Beyond Love and Hate
by Artema
Summary: SLASH! Sequel to Beyond Good and Evil - Things are changing for Harry and Draco, Ginny gets involved things get complicated.
1. Default Chapter

BEYOND LOVE AND HATE

So I decided to post a sequel (in fact I had already written some of it – so I hoping that people would want to read it)

Yeah a few of you said that Beyond Good and Evil should have been NC-17 but when I read the definitions I couldn't seen much of a difference between R and NC-17.

I think this one is an R though.

DISCLAIMER – Not mine! (I wish they were. I would be rich rather than having a huge overdraft and I would be able to afford to go on holiday!)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed Beyond Good and Evil : Liz, Jemariel, Yaoi Fan on a Sugar High, Archwiz, Bracken, QuiggleMastr, Andrea Malfoy, Jayna, Iman, Ran-chan, IckleRonniekins (I hope you had a good birthday – I did! How old were you?), Maggie, Dark Angel and Tschubi-chan

A/N The first story was intended to show that you can lust after someone you don't like.This one shows just how complicated sexuality is when you are a teenager, with magic thrown in too.

Anyway on with the story, I hope you like it, if you do please review!!

THIS IS STILL SLASH M/M PAIRING - If that bothers you press the back button now – don't bother to flame me, I will just ignore them!!

BEYOND LOVE AND HATE

** **

Draco and Harry had been meeting in secret all over the school for several months but apart from enjoying a scorching sex life, their feelings towards each other hadn't changed and they continued to insult each other with the same voracity as before.

Sometimes during moments alone, Harry pondered his 'relationship' with Draco, although he found it sexually fulfilling, he knew that it didn't make him happy the way Ron and Hermione's relationship obviously made them happy.

When Ron and Hermione looked at each other their eyes were filled with love and tenderness. They cared about each other, they liked each other!

When he looked at Draco he could see raw desire- a desire that mirrored the look in his own eyes but there was no love in his expression, no tenderness – they hated each other with a passion that equalled their lust for each other. Harry knew he needed more than physical gratification, he wanted someone to love him and someone to love, someone to hold in his arms and he didn't think that someone was Draco Malfoy.

Harry also couldn't help but feel ashamed about his 'liaison' with Draco – not because he was another boy but because he was Draco Malfoy!

He didn't understand how he could want someone he hated so much – why he ached to touch the flesh of the despised. Why Draco Malfoy had this power over him (like the power he had over Draco). What sort of twisted individual was he to lust after and long for the one he loathed the most.

But despite knowing that his 'arrangement' with Draco was bad for him, he still continued to meet the blonde boy all over the school whenever he could and Draco still invaded his dreams on those nights they didn't meet.

BUT Harry had started to notice other people again, now that his passion for Draco was being fulfilled on a regular basis. One person that he noticed in particular was a rather pretty redhead by the name of Ginny Weasley.

He had always assumed that he was gay but when he found himself staring at Ginny's pretty face and curvaceous figure in the common room, he realised that he was also attracted to girls.

Ginny looked up from her Charms homework to find a pair of deep green eyes staring at her from across the room.

'Why is he staring at me?' She wondered, blushing under his penetrating gaze.

'I know he doesn't like me, like that. I wish he did but I will just have to be content with being his friend.' She sighed and returned to her homework.

'She is so gorgeous, I wonder what it would be like with her?' Harry felt his cock stiffen at the thought.

Just then Hedwig sailed through the open common room window a note tied to her leg.

It was written in a neat, sloping hand that Harry recognised immediately.

_Harry,_

_Midnight, DADA Classroom._

Be there

_ _

It was unsigned and the moment Harry had finished reading it, the parchment burst into flames.

Ron and Hermione both looked up from the game of chess they were playing and stared at Harry.

"Who sent you that?" Ron asked pointing at the small pile of ashes that were all that remained of the letter.

"No idea, it wasn't signed." Harry lied, in truth he knew exactly who it was from but he couldn't tell Ron and Hermione that.

Should he go and meet Malfoy tonight, after all he knew exactly what would happen when he got there and he knew it should stop.

Harry also knew that he would be in the DADA Classroom at midnight.

Harry was the first to arrive in the classroom at least that's what he thought. But when he lit his wand he saw Draco huddled in the corner and he seemed to be crying.

Harry edged a little closer not wanting Malfoy to notice his presence just yet. Draco was holding a piece of parchment and he was indeed crying.

Even though Harry hated Malfoy he couldn't just leave him there alone and crying, plus he was curious about the letter and the reason for Malfoy's tears.

He lit his wand again and moved closer reaching out to touch Draco's shoulder.

Draco flinched a little at his touch and then looked up.

"Of it's you Potter. " He said in a tired sort of voice. "What do you want?" 

"I'm surprised you have to ask, besides you are the one that asked me to come." Harry replied sliding a hand down Draco's front, Draco shook Harry off and turned away.

"Well you may as well leave Potter, I am no longer in the mood."

"What! Don't I get an explanation?" 

"No you don't, now get the hell out of here!" 

"I'm not going anywhere until you explain what the hell is going on."

"No way Potter, just piss off."

Harry reached forward and took the letter out of Malfoy's hands. Malfoy made a halfhearted attempt to snatch it back but gave up and just looked forlorn.

The letter was written on heavy, embossed parchment, in a refined hand similar to Draco's.

_Draco,_

_I am writing to inform you that your mother is dead._

_She defied the dark lord and therefore had to face the consequences._

_I thought you should know._

I shall collect you from school for the funeral at 10 o'clock on Wednesday, make sure you are ready I shall be most displeased if you keep me waiting.

_Father___

_ _

Harry stared at the parchment open mouthed before Draco snatched it away.

"Happy now Potter, your curiosity has been satisfied, so just get out!" Harry had rarely seen Draco so uncontrolled (well apart from during their sex sessions but this was different) and he found it strangely arousing, although he knew it was wrong. But the emotion that Harry was experiencing most strongly was compassion and the desire to comfort. (It was rare for him to be the comforter; he was usually the person being comforted) These emotions surprised him; the last thing that Harry had ever expected to feel was sympathy for Malfoy.

He reached out tentatively and touched Malfoy's shoulder.

"I'm really sorry about your mother." Harry found that he genuinely was.

"Yeah right Potter, why don't you just leave me alone."

"I don't think you should be alone at the moment, you've just had some shocking news, maybe you should go to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey can give you a sleeping potion!"

"Oh yeah a sleeping potion will make everything all right. I'll wake up in the morning and everything will be exactly the same as it is now – My mother will still be dead, so it doesn't matter if I sleep well tonight because it won't change anything." At this Draco dissolved into floods of tears. Harry watched helpless as Draco cried piteously.

Harry instincts took over and he reached forward and wrapped his arms around Draco's shaking body and held him as he sobbed, compassion flowing out of him.

"You need a good nights sleep Draco, I know it won't change anything but it will give you more strength to face the next few days." Draco nodded and allowed Harry to steer him towards the hospital wing. Just outside Madam 

Pomfrey's room Draco turned to Harry and muttered. "Thanks Potter." Harry smiled and mumbled. "That's okay," and blushed before pushing Draco gently through the door.


	2. Chapter 2

BEYOND LOVE AND HATE Chapter 2

Madam Pomfrey gasped with surprise as she saw Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy enter the hospital wing, Harry's arm around Draco's waist. She noticed that the blonde boy had been crying and this surprised her, the Malfoy's didn't usually express their emotions openly.

"What's going on?" She addressed Harry because he seemed more controlled.

Harry glanced at Draco and Draco nodded.

"Mal – I mean Draco's mother has died and I thought you could give him some dreamless sleep potion like you gave me when Ced.. Well at the end of the fourth year." Harry trailed off but Madam Pomfrey understood. She turned to face Malfoy and speaking softly she said. "I shall have to inform the headmaster of these events but rest assured neither he nor myself will tell anyone else if you don't want us to. I'll have the potion ready in a couple of minutes." She turned to Harry, who was standing next to the bed looking uncertain. "You can go now Potter, thank you for bringing Malfoy here, he'll be all right once he's had the potion." Harry moved towards the door but suddenly Draco spoke, "please can Harry stay until I fall asleep?" Madam Pomfrey looked at Harry who looked surprised but nodded.

"Very well, I'll just go and contact Professor Dumbledore and I'll get the potion."

She bustled off leaving Harry alone with Draco.

"I don't understand, I thought you wanted me to go?" Malfoy nodded but didn't look at Harry. "I changed my mind." He said simply, Harry decided he would leave his other questions until Draco had slept.

Harry sat by Draco's bedside watching as Draco's tense expression relaxed as the potion began to kick in. He reached over and took Draco's hand in his own, holding it as he watched Draco fall asleep, clutching Harry's hand. When Draco had finally fallen asleep, Harry bent down and kissed him on the cheek before making his way out of the hospital wing.

When he finally arrived back in Gryffindor tower it was almost dawn. After he had left the hospital wing he had gone for a walk in the grounds to think about the evening's events. He wandered around for hours in an attempt to organise his thoughts but they were far too confused so he gave up and went to bed.

Lying in his four poster unable to sleep he felt a confusing mixture of emotions, sexual frustration was there certainly, after all his meeting with Malfoy had not turned out the way he had expected, but he was also experiencing other emotions which were new to him. He had realised tonight that he cared a lot more for Malfoy than he had thought. This was perhaps the most confusing emotion of all – was he becoming fond of Malfoy?

The next morning Harry clambered out of bed feeling decidedly worn out, he had spent the night tossing and turning – unable to sleep.

He walked blearily down into the common room, rubbing his eyes as he went.

On his arrival he spotted Ginny Weasley sitting in an armchair by the fire, reading a book. He walked over and sat down next to her, she looked up as he sat down.

"Hiya Harry, you look a little tired – you didn't have any nightmares did you?" She looked at him, her eyes full of concern. Harry blushed,

"No I just couldn't sleep." 

"A lot on your mind, hey?" Ginny asked. Harry nodded.

"Well if you want to talk about it, I'm here for you." Ginny smiled making Harry's heart flip.

"Thanks I'll remember that and the same goes for you too." Ginny reached over and took Harry's hand in her own; they sat together for a few moments just enjoying each other's company. 

Just then Ron came in through the portrait hole, he approached the corner where Harry and Ginny were sitting, grinning happily.

"Malfoy's in the hospital wing, I hope he's really ill." Harry grimaced, he didn't know whether to tell Ron what was wrong with Malfoy but then he would have to explain to Ron how he knew and he didn't want to do that just yet.

"Are we going for breakfast then?" he asked, getting up and holding out his hand to pull Ginny to her feet.

"Hold on, where's Hermione?" Ginny asked, looking around for the other girl.

"She's in the library, she said she had something she wanted to look up." Ron told them, neither Ginny nor Harry looked surprised.

"Doesn't she want any breakfast?" Harry asked. Ron shook his head.

"She said she would go and get something from the kitchens later if she felt like it." 

They headed out of the common room and down to the Great Hall. Harry didn't really feel like eating, what he really wanted to do was go and see how Malfoy was. 

Ginny leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"Are you worried about Malfoy?" Harry looked at her surprised, she grinned.

"I'm a lot more observant than my brother, I've seen the way you and Malfoy look at each other." Harry blushed unsure of what to say, he didn't want to lie to Ginny but he didn't want to ruin his chances with her either.

"I…" But Ginny stopped him, placing a hand over his mouth; on impulse Harry kissed her fingers. She smiled and took her hand away.

"Go up to the hospital wing and see Malfoy. I'll be in the common room when you get back, we can talk later." She squeezed his hand and kissed him on the cheek.

"You're right." Smiling gratefully at Ginny, Harry got up and left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry practically ran to the hospital wing and flung open the door

Harry practically ran to the hospital wing and flung open the door.

Madam Pomfrey was standing at Malfoy's bedside, next to her was Dumbledore, he was talking softly to Malfoy, they all looked up as Harry burst in.

"Mr Potter! What do you think you are doing?" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. Harry turned a striking shade of red.

"I just just wanted to see how Mal – Draco is – I'll go I can see you are busy."

"No, no that's fine Mr Potter, myself and Mr Malfoy have finished talking and I'll be on my way." Dumbledore stood up and strode out of the hospital wing.

Draco was sitting up in bed, a slight smile playing over his lips – probably amusement at Harry's discomfort. Harry shuffled towards him, avoiding his eye.

"Nice of you to come, Potter." Draco said in what sounded almost like his usual drawl.

"S'okay." Harry mumbled. "Well come a little closer Harry, I can hardly hear you from over there." Harry was surprised by Malfoy's use of his first name; he moved forward and perched nervously on the edge of Draco's bed. For a few moments, there was silence, neither seemed to know what to stay. Harry now felt really stupid for having rushed up here in such a hurry, why had he been so keen to see how Draco was, they weren't friends, they didn't even like each other. Eventually Draco broke the silence, when he spoke his voice was little more than a whisper and Harry had to move closer to hear what he was saying.

"Thank you for last night." Draco's cheeks coloured a little as he spoke but his demeanour remained relatively calm.

"What do you mean?" The words left Harry's mouth before he had realised that he had decided to speak. Draco looked faintly annoyed at the question.

"Well I've never been held before and it – well it helped." He trailed off and looked away, obviously embarrassed. Harry felt inexplicably pleased, he suddenly felt that he should try and put Draco at ease.

"I just didn't think you should be alone." Draco reached over and touched Harry's arm. "Would you hug me again, please?" Draco asked uncertainly. Harry thought that he had never heard Draco say please before. He moved towards Draco and put his arms around him tentatively, he could feel Draco respond – his arms around Harry's neck pulling him closer. This felt different to all the other times he had spent with Draco, this was truly intimate, they had never held each other before, it was always about gratification and lust, now there was tenderness.

Harry stroked Draco's back and they sat there just holding each other, unspeaking.

Madam Pomfrey came around the corner and gasped at the sight of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy hugging, but she decided not to interrupt and quietly slipped away.

Harry and Draco broke apart and Harry noticed that Draco had tears in his eyes and his own felt decidedly moist. Again there was silence for a few moments but this time Harry didn't feel as uncomfortable as before. Again it was Draco who broke the silence, he had shifted away from Harry and was leaning back against the pillows, arms crossed over his chest as if protecting himself from an invisible attacker, her looked nervously at Harry as he opened his mouth to speak as if expecting Harry to attack. He looked at Harry for a few moments, appraisingly as if deciding whether he was trustworthy, evidently deciding he was, Draco opened his mouth to speak but as he leaned closer to Harry, the door of the hospital wing opened and Professor Snape came in.

He approached the bed slowly; shock and surprise registered all over his face as he spotted Harry sitting on Draco's bed their heads almost touching.

Harry moved away from Draco sharply as Snape's cool, crisp voice cut into his thoughts.

"What are you doing here, Potter?" He asked, making no attempt to keep the sneer out of his voice. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but before he had the chance, Draco was speaking for him.

"Harry brought me here last night Professor, he was just calling in to see how I was." Snape raised an eyebrow at Harry before looking away and speaking to Draco.

"Professor Dumbledore informed me of your news, Draco." He said in an unusually gentle voice.

"I just wanted to tell you," he paused and looked around at Harry uncomfortably as if he did not want Harry to hear him being pleasant.

"You can go now Potter." He said, "Mr Malfoy has enough to deal with, without you bothering him as well." He glared at Harry and Harry started to get up, to his surprise Draco reached forward and took his arm, holding him back.

"I'd like Harry to stay, I want to talk to him." Draco said coolly, Snape eyed Harry in surprise but said nothing. Harry's expression was much the same as Snape's but he remained seated as Snape moved closer to Draco.

"Very well, Draco but if there is anything further I can do for you, please do not hesitate to let me know. I will be happy to talk to you at any time if you wish to." 

At this Snape got up to leave and Draco smiled at him before thanking him for coming and assuring him that he would go and see him if he needed to talk.

Snape left the hospital wing, leaving Harry alone with Draco once more.

"Do you know why Snape hates you so much?" Draco asked Harry suddenly, Harry nodded mutely surprised by Draco's question.

"Yeah, he hated my father, so he hates me." He replied, Draco shook his head.

"That's not quite true Harry, Snape did not hate your father, he was in love with him. My father told me." He added, Harry looked aghast.

"It's true, he loved your father and never got over him choosing your mother over him, then there was that incident with the Whomping Willow, he hated being indebted to your father, when he just wanted to stop thinking about him. They used to meet up like we do, only Snape took their relationship much more seriously than your father, he made the mistake of falling in love." 

Harry's face was pale and he was shaking his head as if to try and remove the thought of his father and Snape together.

"I thought you should know. He knows about the two of us as well and he thinks history is repeating itself, he thinks that you will break my heart." Draco rolled his eyes.

"Why does he think that?" Harry looked at Draco questioningly and Draco averted his eyes before continuing.

"He thinks that I will fall in love with you." Draco smiled at Harry, it was probably the first truly genuine smile, Harry had ever seen Draco give anyone and it made him look even more attractive than normal. Harry felt his cock twitch.

"What do you think?" Harry asked, grinning.

"I think that I have more sense, I mean I know our arrangement is only temporary and you will eventually find some 'nice' girl to settle down with and have your babies." Draco returned Harry's grin. "But, I realised last night that it would be nice to have a real friend, rather than those goons my father insists I consort with." Draco scowled when he mentioned his father and Harry reached over and touched Draco's shoulder.

"Do you think we can be friends Harry?" Draco asked, Harry looked at him in surprise; this was not something he had expected Draco to say. He remained silent for a while, considering Draco's words. At last he spoke.

"I don't know Draco but I suppose we could try. You'll have to stop being mean to Ron and Hermione as well, I can't be your friend if you're nasty to them." Draco grimaced but nodded in agreement.

"I've always been a bit jealous of you, Ron and Hermione, I mean you are really good friends aren't you? You look out for each other and I want a friend like that. I know that you can't expect to become great friends just like that, especially after the way I've treated you and your friends but I am prepared to try, it's just that my father might well kill me if he finds out that you and I are friends."

Harry didn't say anything for a few minutes; it was a lot to take in. Not only did Draco want to become friends with him but he was also prepared to risk the wrath of his father in order to do so. When he finally did speak, it was not the most eloquent speech he had ever made.

"I um well thanks, I don't know what to say really, I mean it's a lot to take in. I had no idea about Snape and my dad; it does explain a lot I suppose. I keep being told how much I look like my dad, so I suppose it's like a constant reminder for Snape. As for you and me, I um am happy to become friends with you, if that's what you want, I mean I care about you and everything, I realised that last night." Harry blushed furiously and looked away from Draco who was grinning broadly.

"You care about me Harry?" He said, smiling again and reaching over he turned Harry's face towards his. Harry was still scarlet and he tried desperately to turn away but Draco wouldn't let him.

"I care about you too, Harry. I always thought that I didn't, I thought I was like my father, that I didn't care about anyone but I now know that isn't true, last night taught me that. When I got that letter from my father, telling me about my mother's death, I realised that I do care, I'd give anything for her to be alive and for my father and Voldemort to be dead!" He spat out the last few words, his voice full of hatred.

"Then we definitely agree on something." Harry said, the colour fading slightly from his cheeks. Draco suddenly clapped his hand to his mouth and looked at Harry.

"What are you going to tell Weasley and Granger?" He asked Harry.

"Call them Ron and Hermione, Draco that's what I call them. As for what I am going to tell them, the truth I suppose, that we are going to try and be friends."

"What about the sex?" Draco grinned and coloured at the same time.

"What about it?" Harry grinned. 

"You aren't going to tell them about that are you?" 

"Well yes, I thought Ron might like a heart attack for his Christmas present, what do you think?" Draco coloured again.

"Well, are we still going to meet up, like before, you know?" Draco was now redder in the face than Harry had ever seen him. "I mean do you still want to – well you know?" It was now Harry's turn to grin.

"Do you?" Draco looked a bit uneasy.

"Yeah, I suppose." He said quietly.

"Okay then, I suppose we can." Harry said pretending to sound careless. Draco looked confused and Harry leaned over and kissed him on the mouth (this too felt different, less hungry, it was sweeter) "Okay." Draco smiled and returned Harry's kiss enthusiastically. They broke apart both grinning broadly.

"Not many friends kiss like that do they?" Draco said smirking.

"We aren't really ordinary friends are we?" Harry replied, squeezing Draco's crotch as if to emphasise his point, Draco groaned in response and Harry could feel Draco's cock hardening under his fingers, he decided he had better stop before they got carried away. He could just imagine Madam Pomfrey's reaction if she caught him and Draco fucking in the hospital wing.

_"Mr Potter, Mr Malfoy, what do you think you're doing?" GASP, THUD.._

"I'd better go, I'll see you before your dad comes for you." Harry said getting up as he spoke. Draco pulled him down for a kiss before nodding.

"I'll send you an owl." Harry said before leaving the hospital wing and heading back to Gryffindor tower. 

As Harry walked slowly back to Gryffindor tower, he felt more confused than before, he and Draco were going to try and become friends but they were still going to fuck, he wasn't sure how that was going to work but he knew that this was going to change life at Hogwarts for more people than just him and Draco Malfoy!


	4. Chapter 4

True to her word, Ginny was waiting for him when he got back and the two of them decided to go for a walk by the lake

Thanks for all the reviews I have received so far. A few of you seem concerned about the possibility of Harry getting together with Ginny rather than Draco and so many of you won't like parts of this chapter. BUT don't stop reading, things may not be as they seem!

Anyway on with the story!

True to her word, Ginny was waiting for him when he got back and the two of them decided to go for a walk by the lake.

Harry decided to be completely honest with Ginny about his relationship with Draco and about the events of last night and that morning.

Ginny listened quietly as he spoke, nodding occasionally; when he had finished she hugged him and whispered.

"Can I join in?" Harry looked shocked and she laughed. "Well it is a very sexy image, I mean both you and Malfoy are very attractive." She blushed a little as she spoke.

"You think I'm attractive?" Harry asked. 

"Very" she replied looking him straight in the eye."Do you think that I'm attractive?" She smiled at him shyly before looking away, blushing a little.

"You are beautiful." Harry said staring at Ginny, drinking in her porcelain complexion and titian hair. 

Ginny reached up and pulled Harry's mouth down onto hers, they kissed for what seemed like hours and when they eventually pulled apart Harry had a dazed expression on his face. Ginny grinned at him and took his hand as they walked back up to the castle.

Draco left the hospital wing later that day. He like Harry was also feeling bewildered. He had not been entirely truthful with Harry, when Harry had asked him about his reaction to Snape's concerns. He did feel something for Harry; maybe he was falling for him!

He was surprised by the change in his feelings towards Harry. Just yesterday he would have sworn that he hated Harry – now he wasn't sure what he felt.

It was as if his mother's death had switched on his emotions – had freed him from any feelings obligation towards the dark side – his mother was the only person who had ever taken an interest in him personally – not in what he destined to become. Maybe now that she was dead, he wanted to ensure that there was someone else who was interested in him for reasons other than his skill at the dark arts or his family's money.

He needed to see Harry again and soon, he felt safe when Harry was around and most importantly he felt properly cared for, even though Professor Snape had said that he would be happy to talk to Draco, if Draco wanted to, he knew that just two minutes talking to Harry would make him feel happier and more relaxed than an hour with Snape. Harry radiated warmth and love and Draco wanted more and more of it, he knew he could make Harry dizzy with desire, maybe he could make Harry feel more than desire for him. Perhaps he could make Harry fall for him and then he would be surrounded by warmth and love forever.

He glanced out of the tower window and saw a familiar figure walking in the grounds, talking to a redheaded girl. They stopped walking; they were standing very close to each other and suddenly they were kissing. Draco's stomach plummeted as he stood and watched Harry and Ginny, he couldn't see the expression in Harry's eyes but he could imagine it. He wasn't surprised about Harry and Ginny, he knew that Ginny had liked Harry ever since she had arrived at Hogwarts and through his close observation of Harry at mealtimes and in the corridors he knew that Harry fancied Ginny rotten – and who could blame him. Draco Malfoy also knew one other thing. He wasn't going to let Harry go easily. He might consider sharing him but he wasn't going to give him up – Snape might have made that mistake with Harry's father – he wasn't about to!

Back in Gryffindor tower, Harry was playing a game of chess with Ginny and he was losing terribly, because he was unable to concentrate on the game. He kept staring at Ginny, remembering the taste of her lips on his. Confusingly Draco's face also kept invading his thoughts and images of he and Draco doing a lot more than kissing insisted on popping up and causing him to blush deeply.

Ginny was smiling at him, she too was remembering their kiss and looking forward with hopeful anticipation to the next one.

The next morning, Harry got up his sleep had been filled with a series of far from unpleasant dreams involving both Ginny AND Draco and he had to hide a very impressive erection from his other roommates as he crossed the room to the showers.

As he climbed inside the shower, he gave a little shriek; there was someone already in there…

Ginny was standing under the spray and she was smiling at him.

"Well don't just stand there Harry come and join me?" She beckoned to him with her little finger and he stepped forward eagerly. He stopped just short of her in order to take in her beautiful body, his arousal evident for all to see.

He sucked in his breath, "you look gorgeous." Ginny grinned again and pulled him towards her, kissing him hungrily.

"I dreamt about you all last night. " She said breathlessly, in between kisses,

"you and Malfoy, I was so turned on this morning, that I had to come and get a taste of the real thing." Harry was taken aback, he had never seen Ginny behave so forcefully, she was usually quiet and shy, but he rather liked Ginny like this.

"Are you sure, I mean have you done this before?" Ginny shook her head and Harry looked a bit worried.

"But I am sure, I want my first time to be with you. I love you Harry, I don't care about what's going on with Malfoy, that just makes me want you more." Harry kissed her again and ran his hands all over her body.

"Have you ever done this before, with a girl I mean?" She asked him, he shook his head. 

"I don't suppose it is that different, really." Harry said, taking one of Ginny's nipples in his mouth, eliciting a small moan from Ginny as he sucked on it enthusiastically. At that moment the image of Draco standing bare-chested in front of Harry as Harry played with his nipples floated into Harry's head and refused to leave. Harry tried to focus on Ginny, drinking in every detail of her body and kissing her all over but he just couldn't get Draco out of his head.

Ginny seemed to sense this and said, "you're thinking of Malfoy aren't you?" 

Harry hung his head and then nodded not daring to look at Ginny, worried that he had upset her. When he eventually looked up he saw that Ginny was smiling mischievously.

"We'll just have to bring Malfoy here too won't we?" She said.

"Are you serious?" Harry asked dumbfounded, Ginny nodded fervently.

"But you don't even like him, I mean he's always making fun of your family, why would you want to sleep with him?" Harry asked. Ginny smirked at him in response.

"I could ask you the same question, you and Malfoy have been fucking for months but you only started to become friends yesterday." Harry couldn't help but smile at Ginny's words.

"Touché." He wrapped his arms around Ginny's naked body and kissed her again and for a few minutes his mind was entirely taken up with thoughts of Ginny. But as they broke the kiss, Draco came swimming into his mind again and he sighed.

"Maybe today isn't the right time." He said looking at the floor, Ginny put her hand under his chin and pushed his head up so he faced her.

"No you're right, but we will do this sometime soon won't we?" It was Harry's turn to nod fervently. 

"I really do want you Ginny but I'm a bit preoccupied right now and I want our first time to be really good, besides your brother and the rest of my dormates will be through here soon and we'll get caught." Ginny looked momentarily terrified and grabbing a towel she dashed out of the cubicle, as she reached the door of the bathroom, she turned to face Harry and blew him a kiss. Harry sighed and stepped under the spray.

Later that morning, after he had finally got out of the shower Harry dressed and wandered down into the Common Room, where he found Ron and Hermione curled up together in an armchair, Hermione looked as if she was trying to read a book but Ron was doing his best to distract her.

Harry stood and watched them for a few minutes, they look so happy together, he thought but he knew that he would have to tell them about his conversation with Draco (leaving out some of the more intimate details of course)

He approached them and they looked up both a little red and in the face and Hermione was giggling rather like Lavender or Parvati did when they were around boys.

"Hi Harry, how are you feeling today? You seemed a little out of it yesterday." Hermione asked looking a little concerned, Ron didn't speak but nodded at Hermione's words.

"Well yeah I fine, but I do need to talk to you both, do you want to go for a walk by the lake?" They both nodded, looking curious and the three of them left through the portrait hole.

"So what did you want to talk to us about Harry?" Ron asked, Harry had not spoken since they had left the common room.

"You know that Draco was in the hospital wing yesterday?" They both nodded and Ron looked bemused.

"Well, his mother was killed by Voldemort." Ron and Hermione looked scandalised and Ron muttered, "don't say the name!"

"I took him to Madam Pomfrey the night before last, I found him after he got the letter from his father, then I went to see him yesterday." 

"You did what?" Ron looked amazed, his expression halfway between anger and surprise.

"I talked to him for a while, he asked me if we could become friends." Harry stopped speaking for a while; to give his friends time to register what he had just said.

"What did you say?" Ron was looking at Harry, his fists were clenched and his knuckles were white.

"I told him that we could try." Harry said not looking at Ron or Hermione.

"You did what?" Ron shouted advancing towards Harry, eyes blazing with fury.

"Ron. Stop!" Hermione pulled from backwards and they both stood in front of Harry staring at him as if he had gone mad.

"I can't believe you said that Harry, after everything he has done to you, to us!" Ron was almost purple with rage, he was shaking on the spot as Hermione held his arms.

"He wants to try to change, he hates Voldemort now, he killed his mother! I know how that feels remember?" Harry was also shaking with suppressed anger, didn't Ron trust his judgement at all.

"How can you trust him, he's evil, he belongs to the dark side, his whole family is evil!"

"You don't really know him though, do you?" Harry said anger coursing through his veins; Ron could be so stubborn sometimes.

"You do I suppose?" Ron challenged.

"Not very well, no but I know him better than you do and I am sure that he wants to change." Ron snorted derisively and Hermione's expression was one of disbelief but she moved away from Ron and came to stand next to Harry.

"I am still not certain that you're doing the right thing but if you think that Malfoy is going to change, then I am prepared to give him a chance and I'm sure that Ron will too." She glared at Ron as if daring him to disagree and he nodded if somewhat reluctantly.

"Just give him a chance, that's all I ask." Harry said looking at Hermione in relief.

"Yeah okay but if he says one more horrible thing about my family, I swear I'm going to punch his lights out." Ron said looking resolute.

"Harry?" Hermione was looking at Harry curiously. "What were you doing, when you found Malfoy and took him to the hospital wing?" She raised an eyebrow at him and Harry blushed under her gaze.

"I er was just having a little midnight stroll." He said awkwardly, Hermione didn't look convinced but she didn't say anything either.

"Lets go back up to the school now shall we?" Harry said starting to walk away, Hermione and Ron joined him and they walked back up to the school chatting about the coming Quidditch match Ravenclaw against Hufflepuff, Ron's mood restored as he slung his arm around Hermione's shoulders.


	5. Chapter 5

THE NEXT DAY

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**THE NEXT DAY**

Harry had slept considerably better that night; now that Ron and Hermione knew at least some of the truth about his relationship with Draco and were also prepared make an effort with him themselves. The first test would be in potions that morning; Harry's nerves were jangling in anticipation.

Harry, Ron and Hermione reached the Potions classroom five minutes before the bell rang to signal the start of the lesson. Draco was sitting alone, away from the other Slytherin's, staring into space. Harry noticed the dark circles under Draco's eyes and wondered whether he had slept at all since the night Madam Pomfrey had given him the sleeping potion.

They took the their seats, Hermione sat next to Ron and Harry the other side of her, he glanced briefly over at Draco and smiled, Draco inclined his head in a slight nod to show that he had noticed without giving himself away.

Snape walked into the classroom and the room fell silent as he began to take the register. When he called Draco's name his eyes lingered on him for a few moments before he called the next name. Once he had finished taking the register he began to explain the potion they would be making that morning, before putting them into pairs. He paired Harry with Hermione but Ron was paired with Draco. Ron didn't look pleased but he remembered his promise to Harry and went to sit next to Draco without complaint. Draco looked up and caught Harry's eye, accurately reading his expression, which said that this would be a good time to show Ron that he was prepared to make an effort to get on.

"Morning Weas.. I mean Ron." Draco said as Ron sat down, Ron looked at him in surprise. "Oh right yeah, morning um Draco." Harry almost grinned he could see how difficult both boys were finding it but at least they were making an effort.

For the next half an hour Harry was unable to observe how Draco and Ron were getting on because he was so busy preparing potion ingredients, Hermione was a very demanding partner, she hated getting less than full marks for any assignment. However, Harry was able to chance a few glances at Ron and Draco and they seemed to be working reasonably well together, true they weren't talking much but they weren't fighting or throwing hexes at each other either which could only be a good thing.

"You should be ready to test your potions by now." Snape's voice cut into Harry's thoughts. Hermione nudged him the ribs, Snape was approaching their cauldron.

"Ah Potter and Miss Granger, I think you can be the first to demonstrate your potion." They had been brewing a potion to repair sprains and torn ligaments and Snape waved his wand in Harry's direction and suddenly Harry's right ankle swelled hugely and Harry winced in pain before sitting down because his ankle could no longer support his weight

"If you have brewed your potion correctly, the sprain should disappear as soon as you have tasted the potion, if not you will have to stay behind and correct it, won't you boy." Snape sneered and his eyes glinted maliciously.

Harry scooped a ladleful of potion into a glass and gulped it down, miraculously the swelling and pain in his disappeared instantly and he smiled at Hermione gratefully.

Snape cursed under his breath but moved onto the next cauldron, everyone had managed to brew the potion successfully even Neville whose round face glowed with pride when his potion mended the sprain in his wrist.

Finally Snape approached the cauldron where Ron and Draco were working, Harry held his breath as Ron took a sip of the potion, to his and Ron's dismay nothing happened. Snape looked dumbfounded, Draco Malfoy was the best student in the class when it came to potions. Ron turned to Draco glaring.

"I bet you did this deliberately didn't you Malfoy?" He thundered, "you knew I would be chosen to test it on didn't you and you thought you would have a good laugh at my expense." Ron looked like he was going to hit Draco and Harry stood up ready to pull him back if needs be. Draco however, was looking just as surprised as Snape. "No I didn't Ron honest, I didn't." He looked terrified, his grey eyes suspiciously bright as if they were filling with tears. Harry felt compassion flooding out of him again. I suppose he wasn't really concentrating, he thought, I mean he looks terrible and his mother has just been killed.

Ron anger faded a little at the sight of Draco pale and shaking, looking near to tears, some of the other Slytherin's started to point and laugh at the sight of Draco Malfoy so shaken up. Snape seemed to sense the growing atmosphere and passed Ron a ladle filled with some of Harry and Hermione's potion before dismissing the class. As the Slytherin's passed Draco's cauldron they jeered at him and Goyle aimed a swift kick at Draco's ankle. Harry lunged forward but Snape placed a hand on his arm pulling him away without reproach.

Ron and Hermione both left the classroom but Harry stayed looking at Draco with concern. 

"Draco?" Snape's voice was gentle. "I think you should go back to your dormitory, you look like you could do with some sleep, Potter will you escort him." He looked up at Harry, his expression softer than normal; Harry nodded his assent and took Draco's arm.

Draco got to his feet shakily and again allowed Harry to steer him to the door. When they reached the door, Harry had a sudden thought and turned back to Snape. "Professor Snape?" Snape looked up sharply. 

"Yes Potter?" His usual look was back and he glared at Harry.

"Well what about the other Slytherin's, I mean you saw them back there." Harry trailed off, but Snape seemed to understand, he remained silent for a minute as if considering the best course of action, finally he spoke.

"Very well, take him to the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey will make sure that he is not disturbed." Harry and Draco left; Harry had his arm around Draco guiding him towards the hospital wing once more.

Madam Pomfrey sighed as she saw the two boys approaching, she had been reluctant to let Draco Malfoy leave the previous day, he hadn't seemed ready to but he had insisted and now he was back.

Harry practically carried Draco over to one of the beds and placed him down onto the mattress. Madam Pomfrey bustled over carrying the bottle of dreamless sleep potion and a large spoon. 

"I told you that you weren't ready to leave yesterday." She said to Draco reprovingly, Draco bowed his head.

"Do you want me to stay?" Harry asked. Draco nodded and Harry sat on the edge of his bed watching as Draco gulped down the potion and settled back against the pillows. Once she was satisfied that Draco was settled, Madam Pomfrey retreated to her office leaving Draco and Harry alone again. To Harry's surprise Draco reached for the glass on his bedside table and spat the potion he had just taken into it.Seeing Harry's startled expression he smiled.

"I don't want to sleep just yet Harry, I want to talk to you." Harry didn't say anything.

"I didn't mean to mess up the potion, I was trying to get on with Ron for your sake, I mean he's not that bad really, just a bit temperamental and I suppose I did used to try and wind him up." He looked at Harry and saw that Harry was smiling.

"I know you didn't do it deliberately and I think Ron does too, he was just angry about the possibility of missing lunch, plus Ron hates potions." Harry and Draco smiled at each other.

"Draco, I've got something to tell you." Harry began but Draco stopped him with his mouth, for a moment Harry allowed himself to sink into the kiss but all to soon he pulled away.

"No Draco, I really have to talk you." Draco looked a bit sulky. 

"I don't see why, this is much more fun." He said, kissing Harry's neck.

"Draco, Draco stop!" Harry tried to sound cross but couldn't because he was enjoying what Draco was doing too much.

"Look, you've got to listen to me, we can kiss later I promise." Draco stopped reluctantly and crossed his arms.

"All right then, if you promise." 

"It's about Ginny." Harry began but Draco interrupted,

"Oh I know all about that." He said sounding amused.

"You do? How?" Harry's face was a picture of amazement and confusion, which made him look very cute, in fact Draco was struggling to stop himself from grabbing him again.

"Yeah, I'm quite observant you see and I saw you two on Saturday, kissing in the grounds, I must admit Harry you have fantastic taste." Harry blushed and grinned.

"You don't mind?" Draco raised his eyebrows.

"Mind! Why should I mind?" Harry felt slightly hurt that Draco was so cool about the situation, he realised that he had wanted Draco to pout and get jealous, this total lack of concern was disconcerting.

Draco sensed Harry's disappointment at his reaction and grinned inwardly.

"Of course I am mad with jealously, I mean she's hot! Especially considering that she is related to Weasley." He added smirking but not unpleasantly, Harry punched Draco playfully but he was smiling.

"Well actually she said that she quite fancied you too." He admitted, Draco looked surprised but delighted.

"Oh really, do you think she would be up for a little threesome?" Harry shrugged.

"Maybe, you never know." He replied, knowing full well what Ginny's response would be but reluctant to share her, at least not at first.

Draco seemed to have tired of talking and had resumed kissing Harry's neck causing Harry to emit a low moan, which gave Draco a thrill of excitement.

He moved up to kiss Harry's mouth, feeling not just the thrill of ownership, of conquest but something more lurking in the very recesses of his heart. Harry was getting under his skin and he was even managing to plumb the very depths of his soul. He had to know what Harry was feeling; he broke off the kiss and stared up into Harry's eyes.

Harry looked disappointed that the kiss had ended; in fact he looked almost bereft. His eyes betrayed a longing that was ever present when he was in Draco's company but there was something else there too. Draco couldn't quite read the emotion he was seeing, was it compassion, was it fondness, or what it something else?

"Why'd you stop?" Harry asked. 

"I just wanted to." Draco realised that he couldn't say what he was thinking aloud, he and Harry were only just becoming friends, he could hardly rush into things by admitting that he was falling for him it might scare him away completely. Plus Draco thought, his heart sinking, Harry was probably falling for Ginny, he just liked fucking Draco but Ginny was his soulmate and eventually he would choose her over him just like Harry's father had chosen his mother over Snape. Maybe Snape was right, history was repeating itself and Harry would indeed break his heart even if he didn't mean to. Did that mean he would end up like Snape, bitter and mean-spirited, afraid to love for fear that he would be hurt again. An audible groan escaped his lips and Harry looked at him in concern.

"What's wrong Draco?"Draco shook his head.

"Nothing I'm fine, I was just thinking about my mother." He blushed at his lie but Harry seemed satisfied with his answer.

"You probably ought to try and sleep now, you still have the potion there don't you?" Harry suggested and Draco found himself agreeing with him despite thinking that the last thing he wanted to do was sleep.

"Okay, will you stay with me, you know like last time?" 

"Yeah but I might have to leave before you go to sleep because lunch is almost over and I'll be late for Charms." Draco sighed but settled back against his pillows to take the potion.

Harry sat by Draco's bedside, feeling a definite sense of déjà vu as he watched Draco fall asleep again, before quietly slipping away to his afternoon classes.

Harry arrived in the Charms classroom about a minute before the bell rang, it was quite a long way away from the hospital wing and he had run most of the way.

He found Ron and Hermione waiting for him outside. Ron was looking calmer than he had done before lunch; Hermione had obviously convinced him that Draco had not intentionally made the potion incorrectly.

"Where have you been?" They asked in unison as Harry arrived panting slightly.

"In the hospital wing with Draco, I took him there after the lesson finished."

"Oh right." Hermione said raising her eyebrows slightly, Harry coloured slightly and fortunately for him the bell rang.

The lesson went quite well, Ron didn't seem too angry with Harry that he had spent all of lunch with Draco; in fact he kept smiling at Hermione in a conspiratorial manner, which puzzled Harry greatly. 

They were learning about healing song charms, which were quite difficult to master but Harry seemed to be getting the hang of them quite well, which is more than could be said for Neville who was getting redder and redder as tried unsuccessfully to perform the healing charm on Lavender's arm which had a large bruise on it.

Finally the bell rang to signal the end of the lesson and everyone filed out, heading out to the grounds and Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures.

This week they were learning about Jarvey's, who could speak English but tended to just repeat a rather limited number of rather rude phrases.

The class found them all highly amusing, especially when Pansy Parkinson's kept telling her she was 'an ugly, fat cow' and Goyle's insisted that he smelt like manure. Draco was missing from the lesson, still asleep in the hospital wing and Harry found his thoughts drifting to the blonde boy several times during the course of the lesson.

After the lesson ended, they wandered back up to the castle, Harry walked beside a chattering Ron and Hermione but his mind was elsewhere. He wondered whether Draco would be at dinner and how the other Slytherin's would treat him if he was there.

They entered the Great Hall and Harry sat down next to Ginny, who smiled warmly at him.

"Good day Harry?" She asked as he began to help himself to steak and kidney pie.

"Not too bad, I suppose." He replied noncommittally, he glanced over at the Slytherin table and saw that Draco was not there yet. 'Maybe he'll eat in the hospital wing?' he thought to himself as he started to eat his own meal.

Then he remembered he was sitting next to Ginny, the girl who he had almost had sex with the previous morning, the only girl he lusted after and cared about as well. He turned to face her and started to ask her about her day, she talked animatedly about her highly successful Transfiguration lesson, during which she had successfully managed to transform a lantern into an armchair, complete with footrest. Professor McGonagall had been so impressed; she had given Ginny full marks and awarded Gryffindor 20 points. Harry couldn't help but smile at her obvious enthusiasm for the subject.

"What are you up to this evening Harry?" Ginny was looking at him with an expression that made Harry's knees go weak. "Have you got Quidditch practice?" 

"Yeah and I've got rather nasty History of Magic essay to finish as well." Harry replied looking dejected.

"I might come and watch, I've been thinking about trying out for the team, you know only as a reserve." She said quickly.

"Yeah, you should definitely tryout, you fly really well I remember from the games we've played over the summer." Harry flashed a grin at Ginny which she returned blushing a little.

Harry glanced over at the Slytherin table again and saw that Draco had now arrived; all the other Slytherin's were ignoring him at the moment, which Harry supposed was better than being jeered at or kicked. He tried to catch Draco's eye but to no avail, Draco did not look up from his plate until he had finished eating and then he left the room immediately.

Harry resisted the urge to follow him and went to fetch his Firebolt before heading down to the Quidditch pitch for practice.

Practice went smoothly and Harry let Ginny have a ride on his Firebolt after they had finished, impressed with her flying style and enjoying the sight of her soaring above him, her auburn hair cascading over her shoulders and her face alight with happiness.

They walked back to Gryffindor tower together, Harry slung his arm around Ginny's shoulders, he felt relaxed and comfortable but he couldn't get Draco out of his mind completely, he kept creeping back in.


	6. Chapter 6

TWO DAYS LATER

A/N Thanks to everyone that has reviewed this story so far and especially to those people who have put it on their favourites list – it makes my day.

Moonshadow, Escagirl, Yeah81,Cat Samwise, Eternal Haven, Padfootsgirl,Shadow Maxwell-Yuy, J (sorry you didn't like the crotch squeezing) TicTac, Liz, Lady Malfoy, Hermonie, Lillah, Sarah and Maggie

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I hope you enjoy this chapter, if you do please review.

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As usual all I own is the plot.****

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The following day, Harry had barely seen Draco except to exchange a small smile in the Great Hall at mealtimes and he found himself missing the smaller boys company just a little.

Wednesday morning came around and Harry remembered his promise to Draco, he had said he would send him an owl before his father came to collect him for his mother's funeral.

He had awoken early and hurried to the Owlery to find Hedwig, so she could take a note to Draco.

He wasn't sure what to write in the end he settled on:

Draco,

I just wanted you to know that I will be thinking of you today and that you can talk to me anytime you want when you get back. I know today will be really difficult for you but I will do anything I can to help.

See you when you get back

Harry

He attached the letter to Hedwig's leg and she flew off.

Later at the breakfast table Harry saw Hedwig soar in through the window and land on his plate. She seemed to be carrying a reply from Draco, which Harry hadn't expected.

_Harry,_

_Thanks for your letter, it meant a lot to me._

_I'll talk to you when I get back._

____

_Draco_

After Harry had read the note, he looked over at the Slytherin table, caught Draco's eye and smiled. Draco smiled back.

Harry was particularly preoccupied that day; he couldn't stop thinking about Draco, hoping that he was okay. He wandered from class to class in a daze, which even Ron noticed.

"He'll be all right, you know." Hermione said, trying to reassure Harry but he hardly seemed to notice that she was speaking.

"What? Oh yeah right, I know." Hermione couldn't help smiling just a little, Harry was a very loyal friend, she knew that but he seemed inordinately concerned about someone he had only just become friends with.

It didn't really matter what Hermione or anyone else said, Harry knew that he wouldn't be able to relax until Draco was safely back at the school.

He didn't sleep well that night; he couldn't stop thinking about Draco.

At breakfast the next morning he scanned the room anxiously looking for a flash of silver blonde hair but Draco was nowhere to be seen.

Just then the post owls arrived and Harry looked up to see Hedwig swooping down to him with a letter, he opened it hurriedly.

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_Dear Harry,_

_The funeral went okay I suppose, actually it was absolutely horrible but I expected that so it wasn't exactly a surprise._

_I will be back at school tomorrow; Father wants me to stay here today. I would rather be at school actually._

_I just wanted to let you know that I am okay and that I am looking forward to talking to you when I get back._

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_Love_

_Draco_

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Harry was quite surprised by the letter from Draco, but he couldn't help feeling pleased. He looked up to see Ron, Hermione and Ginny all smiling at him.

"Good news Harry?" Hermione asked, smiling. Harry didn't reply he just smiled and returned to eating his porridge. He wondered why Draco's father wanted him to stay at home now rather than having collected him earlier but maybe he was more upset about his wife's death than he had realised at first.

The day passed reasonably uneventfully except that in Transfiguration, Neville somehow managed to turn Lavender Brown's hair bright green with large pink spots. She was still shrieking about it later that evening in the common room and Neville was hiding in the boy's dormitory afraid that she might try to hex him.

Ginny approached the chair where Harry was sitting attempting to prepare his star chart for astronomy. 

"Hi Harry, how's your day been, I heard about Lavender's hair, it must have been pretty funny?"

"Oh hi Ginny, it's been okay I suppose, I got a letter from Draco this morning, he'll be back at school tomorrow." He took the letter out of his pocket, unfolded it and handed it to Ginny. She read it wordlessly, raising her eyebrows slightly at Draco's use of the word love.

"You're getting on quite well then?" She inquired.

"Yeah pretty well I suppose, but its still early days, he might get fed up of being nice and revert back to his old nature." 

"Well it's good that you're giving him the benefit of the doubt though, not many people would have bothered after all he's done to you in the past."

"Yeah well he doesn't really have any real friends and I know what that's like, after all I didn't have friends until I came to Hogwarts, Dudley and his gang prevented that." Harry scowled a little but then smiled at Ginny. "It's really nice of you to put up with me rambling on all the time. You know that if you ever want to talk me about anything." But Ginny stopped him by kissing him softly before pulling away.

"I know we agreed remember? The only problem I have is trying to get this absolutely gorgeous bloke to sleep with me."

"I shouldn't expect that he would be too difficult to persuade." He said winking suggestively, Ginny hit him playfully and Harry started to tickle her. Ginny started to giggle as Harry tickled her into submission. 

"Will you put my sister down, you don't know where she's been!" Ron said jokingly, he and Hermione had come over to see what all the noise was about.

"Sorry, sorry." Harry held up his hands in mock surrender and Ron grinned.

The rest of the evening passed pleasantly, Harry eventually managed to finish his star chart and then he, Ron, Hermione and Ginny held an exploding snap tournament with Ginny emerging victorious overall.

Harry finally went to bed at around midnight and fell asleep almost immediately. He awoke with a start at about 3am; he sat up in bed and noticed that he was sweating heavily. He tried to remember the dream he'd been having but the details were hazy, it had been something to with Draco but it was not the sort of dream he usually had about Draco, for one thing he (Harry) wasn't in it and his usual dreams definitely featured him with Draco. 'I hope Draco is really all right' he thought to before trying to get back to sleep, after a few moments of lying awake worrying about Draco, he decided that he wasn't going to be able to sleep and got out of bed. 

The common room was completely dark and deserted. Harry sat in one of the armchairs by the embers of the fire; he lit his wand and used the light to flick vaguely through _Flying with the Cannons_, which he'd brought to distract him from thoughts about Draco. Eventually Harry fell asleep in the armchair, the book dangling from his fingers, his glasses perched askew on his nose.

Harry sat in the Great Hall at breakfast the next day, absent-mindedly pouring pumpkin juice rather than milk into his porridge.

"Urgh!" He threw his spoon back into the bowl and pushed it aside, reaching instead for a piece of toast and the pot of marmalade.

"Potions today, wonder what we'll be making." Hermione was chattering at his side and Harry was half-listening to her words. If they had potions then he would be able to see how Draco was today.

"Harry, I think you might have enough marmalade on that now." He looked up, Hermione was pointing to the slice of toast he was spreading, it now had a layer of marmalade about two inches thick on top of it.

"Yeah you might be right." He put down the knife and attempted to eat his overloaded toast.

"You look tired, didn't you sleep last night?" Hermione asked, him peering at his face closely.

"Not very well, no." Harry admitted and both Ron and Hermione looked concerned.

"I just had a bad dream, I think, nothing to worry about though." He added hastily, seeing the expressions on their faces.

"Your scar isn't hurting is it?" Ron inquired but Harry shook his head.

"No it's fine, in fact I can't even remember what the dream was about, don't worry! We'd better get a move on we'll be late for potions." He got to his feet as he spoke. 

"That's got to be a first, you worrying about being late for potions." Ron laughed.

"I just don't want to give Snape an excuse to deduct any more points from Gryffindor." Ron didn't look convinced but he didn't say anything and they began to walk towards the dungeons.

When they arrived Harry saw that like last lesson, Draco was sitting alone away from the other Slytherin's, he still looked tired but seemed he smiled as Harry entered and indicated that Harry could sit with him if he wanted to. Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione who nodded and he sat down. At once, whispers started all over the classroom, especially amongst the Slytherin's; in fact some of them didn't trouble to keep their voices down, luckily at that moment Snape entered the room and all the conversations halted abruptly. (Harry had never felt more pleased to see Snape in his life)

"Ah Mr Malfoy, you're back with us, I wonder if I might have a word with you at the end of the lesson." Snape eyed Draco curiously and rather than sneering at Harry he seemed to be avoiding his eye.

The potions lesson progressed smoothly, Harry and Draco were paired as were Ron and Hermione, Snape seemed to be quite a good mood and didn't criticise the Gryffindor's as much as usual. Harry didn't really talk to Draco much during the lesson. He had asked how he was and Draco had shrugged before saying that he would talk to him at lunch.

The bell rang and as everyone got up to leave, Draco asked Harry to wait for him while he talked to Snape.

A few moments later, Draco emerged from the classroom looking a bit puzzled but reasonably happy.

"Let's go and grab some sandwiches and head out to the lake." He suggested and Harry agreed.

They sat in silence for a few minutes eating the sandwiches and looking at the scenery, finally Harry spoke.

"So what did Snape want?" Draco raised his eyebrows.

"He wanted to know how things had gone at the funeral, asked me if I was okay, you know the usual. He's been really kind actually, he said he would have come but he and my father fell out a few years back and he thought it might not be a good idea." Harry thought he knew exactly why Snape and Lucius Malfoy might have fallen out but he didn't vocalise his thoughts. 

"Thanks for your owls." Draco smiled and said. 

"Well I didn't have much to do when I was at home, father had friends and associates around most of the time and he didn't want me there, so I was just alone in my room." 

"Oh so you were just bored then?" Harry grinned.

"Yeah pretty much." Draco smirked but then smiled, "plus I wanted to write to you, I kind of missed you." He looked away as he spoke, his face puce.

"Well I suppose I sort of missed you too, especially this." Harry leant forward and kissed Draco softly, then he remembered it was broad daylight and in full view of anyone who happened to be passing and pulled away. Draco sighed and tried to resume the kiss but Harry pointed out that they could be seen and Draco nodded resignedly.

"I think we need to have one of our midnight rendezvous, I can't remember the last time we went this long without one." 

"You know, I think you're right, it has been kind of frustrating."

"You've always got Ginny to help you relieve your frustrations." Draco pointed out but Harry shook his head.

"We haven't you know, done it yet." Harry looked a bit sheepish and Draco smirked.

"You haven't why not? I would have thought she would be up for it." 

"It's not that, it just hasn't felt _right_, I mean it's different with us, we both knew the score from the beginning it was just sex but it will be different with Ginny, I mean she told me she loves me, I don't want to hurt her." Harry stopped speaking, he couldn't believe that he was having a heart-to-heart with Draco Malfoy of all people, but Draco was turning out to be good listener.

"Why would you hurt her? It's not as if you don't care about her is it?" 

"Yeah I know but well it's kind of complicated." Harry looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Would this be something to do with us?" 

"Yeah well it is an unusual situation, she says she doesn't mind about you and me but." He trailed off; Draco was looking at him intently.

"What do you think?" He asked. Harry shrugged.

"I don't know, I don't want to stop meeting you but I suppose we should really. We both knew we would eventually maybe the next time should be the last time." 

"I don't see why, Ginny hasn't asked you to stop has she?" 

"No but"

"No buts Harry, I don't want to stop, in fact I not going to! I don't mind sharing you but I'm not going to give you up completely, besides where else would I get such good sex?" Harry reddened at this but looked pleased. Draco was relieved that Harry didn't seem to have noticed the edge to his voice, the note of desperation that lingered there. He knew that if he and Harry stopped meeting, he wouldn't get the physical contact that he so badly needed. It had stopped being simply about sex for Draco; he needed Harry's touch, Harry's warmth. Somewhere along the way he had fallen in love with Harry! Just like Snape had thought he would.

Meanwhile Harry was thinking about what Draco had just said, he knew that the sex they had was good but he was surprised at Draco's vehemence that they should continue to meet. He chanced a look at Draco's eyes and saw that where there had once been lust and longing there was definitely a hint of something more, he knew that look too, it was the one Ginny had in her eyes when she looked at him. Then he realised, Draco was in love with him!

"Draco I" He began but Draco stopped him.

"You know don't you?" Harry nodded.

"I'd better go." Draco said, standing up and before Harry had a chance to stop him he was running across the grass back to the castle.


	7. Chapter 7

Harry stayed where he was, unsure whether to tell Draco to come back or leave him be

A/N : Once more I have to thank all the kind people who take the time to review this fic it really does mean a lot to me to read your kind words and it gives me the motivation to post more chapters.

So thanks to: Hades, Brightstar, Shadow Maxwell-Yuy, mara, Eternal Haven, Yaoi Fan on Sugar high & the Insane Hyper 3-yr-old, Cat Samwise (good suggestion but the chapter was already written – it can't be that straightforward – sorry), Supergirl (thanks for reviewing nearly every chapter), slashy B*tch and *Wolf's Cry*

I love you all and I hope you enjoy reading the next chapter.

Anyway on with the show.

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Harry stayed where he was, unsure whether to tell Draco to come back or leave him be. He didn't know how he felt, okay so having two people in love with you is hardly the worst problem in the world – but it is still confusing – particularly when you fancy them both madly and care about them as well. Draco clearly had very little love in his life, his mother had just died and his father was a death eater – one of Voldemort's right-hand men, hardly a great source of love and affection. Harry was reluctant to tell Draco that he didn't love him either, not just because he knew it would hurt him but because he wasn't sure if that was true – maybe he was falling for Draco. He thought back to the morning in the shower with Ginny and remembered how he had been unable to get Draco out of his head even with a naked Ginny is his arms – bloody hell – he thought. – Maybe I'm in love with him too!

Then he realised that love was perhaps too strong a term for what he felt for Draco at the moment but he knew that the wanted their 'relationship' to be about more than just sex, Draco's presence, his touch - made him a feel something he didn't feel when he was with anyone else – even Ginny. That didn't mean he didn't feel strongly about Ginny too – he was so confused.

He and Draco had only just begun to be friends and already things were complicated by their existing physical relationship. However, Harry knew that the new feelings he was experiencing towards Draco did not stem merely from their sexual relationship – otherwise he would have experienced them before now. It was almost as if their decision to become friends had triggered some hitherto unknown feelings and brought them to the surface.

It seemed as though he and Draco could not be simply friends, the emotions they both seemed to be experiencing were much rawer, much deeper than friendship (even close friendship) Had they had gone from hate to love? Without anything else in between. Maybe it was just the nature of their relationship, they did not seem capable of merely liking or disliking each other – it had to be extremes of emotion – love and hate.

He wandered aimlessly back to the castle, half remembering that he had lessons to attend, it was Transfiguration that afternoon, a double lesson – he would talk to Draco after dinner – that's if he worked out what to say to him.

He passed Ginny in the corridors as he made his way to the Transfiguration classroom, she smiled at him but he barely nodded in return, his mind was too full of Draco – what would he say, Draco needed him, he realised – Harry was the only source of love and support he received, how could he be the one to take that away?

The afternoon's lessons passed in a blur, Professor McGonagall deducted house points when Harry, not concentrating on his task managed to set fire to the back of Parvati Patil's robes when he was supposed to be turning a rat into a rabbit.

He almost ran to the Great Hall when the bell rang, with Ron and Hermione hurrying along behind him.

He spotted Draco, sitting alone at the Slytherin table, he looked paler than usual, but his eyes were bloodshot and it looked like he might have been crying.

"Harry?" Hermione said uncertainly, Harry turned to face her but he was clearly distracted. 

"What?" 

"Well I just wondered, did something happen this afternoon, you know when you had lunch outside with Mal, I mean Draco?" She looked almost nervous as she spoke, Harry wasn't sure what to tell her and Ron.

"No nothing happened, we were just talking and well he's still really upset about his mum and everything, I think he decided he wanted some time on his own." He wished that he could have told Ron and Hermione the truth, but they didn't even know that he fancied boys for Merlin's sake. Ron had enough trouble dealing with the idea of him and Ginny together, without adding his illicit meetings with Draco into the mix. However, he got the distinct impression that Hermione had guessed there was something going on, she really was too clever for her own good!

"You know that you can always talk to us, if anything is bothering you, don't you?" She said and Harry smiled at her gratefully, he knew he was very lucky to have such good friends and he hated lying to them, he would tell them truth eventually but it was a matter of finding the right time.

Ginny came and sat down next to Hermione, she hardly even looked at Harry, he realised that he had probably upset her by his reaction when she had smiled at him earlier. (I'd better make it up to her – I don't want to upset anyone else today)

He lent over and whispered. "I'm sorry about earlier, I was a bit distracted." She nodded but didn't say anything, Harry wasn't sure if she had forgiven him or not.

He looked over at the Slytherin table and saw that Draco appeared to be deep in conversation with Pansy Parkinson, Harry couldn't help feeling a pang of jealously but on closer inspection he could see that Draco wasn't so much having a conversation with Pansy as being talked at by Pansy. He had an extremely bored expression on his pale face and was nodding occasionally as she chattered on and on.

"What do you want to do this evening, Harry?" Harry looked up and saw that Ron was speaking to him.

"What, oh right um, do we have much work to do?" 

"Harry it's Friday night, we don't have to work on Friday night, how about we sneak into Hogsmeade to visit Fred and George at the shop and sink a few butterbeers, you can even ask Draco if he wants to come if you want." 

Harry couldn't believe Ron was actually suggesting they spend time with Draco, his heart gave a huge leap and he grinned at his friend.

"That's really nice of you Ron, it might be just what Draco needs." Plus he thought that it would give he and Draco the opportunity to spend some time together without the pressure of having to discuss their situation. Harry thought that this might well help clear his head. 

Harry saw Draco get to his feet and as he made to leave the Great Hall, Harry hurried to catch up with him in the entrance hall.

"Hey Draco!" Draco turned to face Harry, surprised.

"What do you want?" He said his voice devoid of emotion, but his expression betraying his feelings. Harry moved towards him, stopping just far enough away to avoid arousing undue suspicion regarding the nature of their relationship amongst passers by.

"What are you doing tonight?" Draco raised an eyebrow, surprised at the direct question; he and Harry usually arranged their assignations via their owls. He shrugged.

"Do you want to come into Hogsmeade with me? Ron, Hermione and Ginny are coming too, we were going to visit Fred and George and have a few butterbeers."

"I'd better not, Ron won't be pleased and I don't suppose Fred and George will be over the moon either." Draco looked disheartened and made to move away. Harry stopped him.

"Actually Ron was the one who suggested that I invite you, he wants to make the effort really!" At this Draco smiled, not his usual smirk but a real smile.

"But what about earlier?" He asked. It was Harry's turn to shrug.

"I thought it would give us the chance to have a fun time together with friends without having to discuss the situation, call it thinking time if you like." He looked hopeful. Draco considered the idea for a few moments before nodding.

"Yeah I'll come, I'm not sure how we're going to sneak out without the teacher's spotting us though."

"Don't worry about that, you'll see later on." He grinned broadly at Draco.

"Meet us on the third floor corridor, next to that statue of the one-eyed witch, do you know where I mean?" 

"Ye-esss." Draco said uncertainly. "Why there?"

"You'll see." Harry looked around to check no one was watching and kissed Draco quickly before dashing off up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room.

For a few moments Draco stood there, transfixed but eventually he shook himself and waked slowly towards the Slytherin common room.

Later that evening, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all the left the common room carrying bags all of which had books poking out of the top, on the pretext of visiting the library but instead of heading in that direction they made their way to the third floor.

Draco was waiting for them to arrive pacing up and down looking agitated.

"There you are." He exclaimed sounding relieved when they finally arrived.

"I thought you weren't coming." He had almost kissed Harry when he had arrived but fortunately he had remembered that Ron and Hermione did not know the full nature of their relationship and stopped himself just in time.

"Let's go shall we, I owled Fred and George earlier and they'll be expecting us."

Harry was pulling what looked like an old bit of parchment out of his pocket; he tapped it with his wand and muttered something before peering at it closely.

Suddenly he grabbed both Ginny and Draco and pulled them together with Ron and Hermione into a nearby classroom before shutting the door before motioning to them all to keep quiet.

"Look Snape." He hissed, indicating a tiny dot on the parchment, which Draco could now see was a map of the school.

They stood silently together watching the map closely to see where Snape was heading. He actually paused right outside the door of the room they were in but evidently decided that there was no one around, much to their collective relief.

"Phew!" Ron let out a long sigh, once Snape was sufficiently far away not to hear them.

"Come on lets go." Once they were back next to the one-eyed witch, Draco watched amazed as Harry took out his wand again and tapped the witch's hump, muttering 'dissendium.' The hump opened and they all climbed inside one after another, sliding down the stone slide until they reached the passageway that led to the Honeydukes cellar. They walked along the passage for quite some time before finally reaching the cellar and quietly creeping into the store and out into Hogsmeade.

They made their way to Fred and George's shop and were greeted by the twins at the door; they grinned at their Harry, Hermione and their siblings but eyed Draco with undisguised suspicion before admitting him.

Once inside Fred and George's flat, the group could relax for a while and enjoy their drinks. The atmosphere remained tense and strained for the first few minutes but they soon relaxed as the conversation turned to Quidditch and everyone began to debate enthusiastically about the fortunes of the Chudley Cannon's, the Weasley's favourite Quidditch team. Draco turned out to be very knowledgeable about the Cannons which was another point in his favour and the animosity between his family and the Weasley's was temporarily laid aside much to Harry's relief. He didn't say much but listened contentedly as Draco and George discussed the strategy employed by the team's coach during the previous season. However, when the topic switched to the school Quidditch cup the atmosphere became tense again, Draco was only non-Gryffindor or former Gryffindor present but he managed to avoid a potentially explosive situation by hastily changing the subject to Fred and George's shop, complimenting them on some of their inventions. They asked him if would like to be the guinea pig for one of their newer inventions and with a not a little trepidation and a nod from Harry he agreed a little less than enthusiastically.

"It's not too dangerous is it?" Ginny asked. Draco smiled at her gratefully, he had wanted to know the same thing but was reluctant to ask for fear of mocking from Fred and George.

"No of course not, it's just a harmless joke." Fred said, winking at his twin in what could only be described as an alarming way.

Draco braced himself for the worst but looked up relieved, when he realised that Fred and George were only offering him another butterbeer (at least that's what he thought it was) he took the bottle and gulped some of it down, almost immediately he looked down at his hands and noticed they had turned blue, then they changed to green, then red, then purple. He looked at the others in the room they were all laughing uncontrollably as they watched him change into all the colours of the rainbow.

"Rainbow butterbeer, our newest invention." Fred chuckled. "You'll change back to your normal colour soon, once you've been through all the colours of the rainbow three times." Draco managed a grin, although it looked a little strained. George clapped him on the back, also chuckling.

"You know Malfoy, Draco you're not as bad as I thought, a pretty good sport actually." Draco smiled happily and Harry gave him a thumbs up.

"Thanks." He said uncertainly. "Do you have anymore _real_ butterbeer?" Ron handed him another bottle and Draco eyed it suspiciously before taking a swig, this time it did turn out to be normal much to Draco's relief.

The rest of the evening passed pleasantly enough, with Draco telling them stories about the other Slytherin's and their weird habits, Fred and George were delighted to hear about Crabbe and Goyle sleeping with their fluffy pink teddy bears and being afraid of the dark, whilst Hermione was particularly amused when Draco told her about Pansy Parkinson's passion for _Mills and Boon _romance novels.

All too soon, the group realised that they would have to make their way back to the castle and after saying goodbye to Fred and George they started their journey.

To their collective relief, they managed to get safely back into the castle without being caught and after hastily bidding Draco goodnight; the Gryffindor's made their way to their common room. Harry let the others go ahead of him and ran to catch up with Draco.

"Hey Drac, wait." He called after the blonde boy who stopped and turned to face him.

"Thanks." 

"What for?"

"Well you obviously tried really hard this evening and everyone seemed impressed."

"It wasn't that hard really, I mean they are good people once you get to know them much nicer than the Slytherin's, they actually listen when you speak, instead of just waiting for you to stop speaking so they can talk instead."

"Well I was really pleased you were there." Harry said blushing furiously.

"You were?" Draco said smiling.

"Yes, do you really want to go to bed yet?" Harry winked and it was now Draco's turn to blush.

"Won't the others wonder what you are doing?" 

"I suppose so, I'll just tell them that we got caught by Filch or something."

"Very devious, maybe you should have been in Slytherin, except that you are too nice for Slytherin really."

"Well what are we waiting for?" The two of them made their way to the nearest empty classroom and locked the door magically.

Once inside, Draco grabbed Harry and started to kiss him with furious passion. Harry's hands were busy undoing Draco's robes as he kissed back fervently.

Their lovemaking was much more tender than it had previously been. They spent time kissing and touching and afterwards they held each other, for the first time ever.

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**So what do you think?**

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**Chapter 8 coming up right away.**


	8. Chapter 8

THE NEXT MORNING

A/N Two chapters together – aren't you the lucky ones?

I hope you like what you are reading and please remember to review. 

There is more to come and soon!

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THE NEXT MORNING 

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Harry woke the next morning to find Ron looking down at him curiously. 

"Where did you get to last night, after we got back from Hogsmeade?" 

"Uh Filch caught me and Draco and made us scrub the toilets on the second floor." Harry was worried that lies were coming so easily to him these days, he had barely had to think before that lie had slipped out of his mouth.

"Oh right." Ron didn't look convinced but didn't argue. "So Quidditch match today, Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw, are we going to watch?" Harry nodded in response, getting out of bed and pulling on his dressing gown.

Later that day, as they were making their way out towards the Quidditch pitch to watch the game, Ron pulled Harry aside and let the other pass.

"What's going on between you and my sister? I mean are you seeing each other, because you better not mess her around Harry, I mean it." Harry wasn't sure what to say, he took in Ron's expression and saw that he was deadly serious. Harry knew how protective Ron and the rest of the Weasley's were of Ginny, not only was she the youngest she was also the only girl and he would be prepared to bet that her brothers would be willing to use an 'Unforgivable Curse' on anyone who hurt her. However, Harry decided to tell Ron the truth as far as possible without mentioning Draco, he was fed up of lying.

"I'm not sure what is happening to be honest, I think we are getting to know each other, enjoying each other's company, you know. I promise you I will do my very best not to hurt her, I really do care about her." Ron looked happier at Harry's words and the two of them went to sit in the stands.

Harry looked over to where the Slytherin's were sitting and saw Draco sitting next to Pansy Parkinson, who was fawning over him like an adoring fan. He couldn't see Draco's expression but he guessed it would be similar to the one he worn had last night at dinner.

The game passed reasonably uneventfully. Ravenclaw had obviously been training hard and their new seeker, replacing Cho Chang who had left the previous summer was proving to be a worthy replacement, she had managed to fool the Hufflepuff seeker into believing that she had seen the snitch and dived impressively, the Hufflepuff following close behind before pulling out of the dive sharply in an impressive 'Wronski Feint' before tearing across the pitch after the real snitch whilst the Hufflepuff, who had managed to pull out of the dive just before they smashed into the ground, looked around bemusedly. Harry was watching carefully, clearly wishing to identify any tricks that she might use in the match against Gryffindor, when she would be playing directly opposite him, he made a small impressed noise as she raised her fist into the air, her fingers closed around the small golden snitch.

Ron nudged him "she's pretty good isn't she?" Harry nodded but Ron continued. "You're better though. It's not as though Hufflepuff are hard to beat, they are all so trusting."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Hermione interjected and Ron looked momentarily abashed before continuing. "Well it is in this instance, I mean the Hufflepuff seeker almost crashed into the ground because they thought that the Ravenclaw seeker had seen the snitch."

Harry tuned himself out of the conversation around him and once again found himself thinking about Draco.

He, Ron and Hermione made their way down from the stands and began to walk across the grounds back to the castle. Ginny and two of her friends joined them, chattering happily. Ginny snuggled into Harry's side and he put his arm around her once more. 

They reached the entrance hall and out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Draco across the other side of the room, he did not look very happy. Next to him was Pansy Parkinson, she had tucked her arm through his and was marching him along, babbling inanely as she went.

Then Harry spotted Snape, skulking by the steps that led down into the dungeons, he glared at Harry before retreating down the steps.

The rest of the weekend passed rather uneventfully and Harry had very little opportunity to speak to Draco.However, this did give him plenty of opportunity to consider his situation and try and decide what he should do.

He thought about his relationships with both Ginny and Draco, he thought about how they both made him feel. He knew that a relationship with Ginny would prove much less complicated in the long term and for a horrible moment he wondered whether that had been a deciding factor in his father choosing his mother rather than Snape. He did not like that thought at all and tried to brush it aside. He thought about Draco and images of pale blond hair and steel grey eyes flooded through his mind, then raunchier images of Draco's fingers on Harry's skin, the expression that contorted Draco's lovely features as he came, the feel of Draco's cock buried deep inside him. These thoughts were not conducive to making a rational decision and Harry attempted to sweep them aside.

He knew more clearly each time he thought about it what his decision would have to be. He cared for Ginny deeply, plus he thought she was gorgeous and she did do funny things to his insides when she touched him BUT she was not Draco. Draco was the one he really wanted, even when he was with Ginny he was thinking about Draco. He was becoming increasingly aware that the decision had been made for that day in the hospital wing when Draco had asked Harry to hold him.

Still even though he felt sure of his feelings now, it did not make life any easier for him, how on earth would he tell Ginny? He did not want her to hate him, she was too important to him, plus Ron would cheerfully maim him for upsetting his little sister, for leading her on. He hadn't meant to he reasoned to himself but he knew that wasn't the point.

How could he and Draco possibly have a successful relationship, they would be blighted at every turn, everyone would be against them, Draco's father wanted Harry dead and Harry could not imagine taking Draco home to meet the Dursley's. 

Monday morning arrived and with it Potions class.

Snape's black mood had returned and he presided over the class in his usual menacing style.

They were continuing their work on healing potions, this week they were working on potions to aid peaceful sleep. Harry, who was working with Hermione once more, caught Draco's eye and smiled but Draco did not smile back which left Harry feeling confused and upset.

The lesson progressed fairly uneventfully apart from a couple of incidents that occurred when Snape was hovering next to Neville's cauldron watching him adding his ingredients. Neville, who was very scared of Professor Snape, could not stop his hand from shaking as he added his boomslang skin and as a result he added too much which resulted in his potion exploding sending showers of bright green liquid all over the both Neville and an extremely furious Snape. Fortunately a wave of Snape's wand corrected Neville's blunder and after deducting 20 points from Gryffindor, he had swept away leaving Neville cowering by his cauldron, trying miserably to rectify his past mistakes. 

Finally the class drew to a close and people began clearing away their remaining potion ingredients and putting their books into their bags. 

As the class filed out of the classroom, Snape's voice cut into Harry's thoughts.

"Potter, you will stay here and clean up the potion remains." His tone brooked no argument and Harry reluctantly returned to the classroom, letting his bag slide off his shoulders and rolling his sleeves up.Draco had paused by the door but Snape waved him away.

When Harry and Snape were alone in the classroom, Snape turned to face Harry, the look on his face was unreadable but Harry was sure that he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear.

"You can put the down the cloth, Potter. I want to speak to you about your relationship with Mr Malfoy." Harry stared at Snape determinedly and waited for the potions master to speak. The look that Snape was giving Harry reminded Harry of Dumbledore's searching gaze but Snape's eyes held none of the warmth of Dumbledore's. Snape seemed to be appraising Harry, he remained silent for a few minutes and Harry felt increasingly uneasy.

"So?" He said finally, Harry looked up with a start, somehow surprised to hear Snape's voice after waiting in silence for so long.

"You and Mr Malfoy, oh and lets not forget you and Miss Weasley. You are proving to be quite the Lothario aren't you Potter? Just like your father." Snape added bitterly. Harry didn't know what to say. Draco had told him about Snape's relationship with James Potter and Snape's current bitterness harkened back to James' decision to marry Lily rather than be with Snape, his hatred of Harry, his lack of concern about his physical appearance, his cruel manner they all stemmed from the same point, the same decision. The love he had felt for James Potter 20 years ago when they had been at school together, had not diminished and the pain he experienced every day upon seeing Harry's face (so like James') had not lessened either. 

As he so often found himself doing in Harry's presence, Snape found himself transported back to the fateful day when James had told him that he wanted to be with Lily.

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_I'm sorry Severus, I love Lily and I want to be with her. I hope you understand." _

_ _

But Severus Snape didn't understand, he had hardly heard James' words. All he knew was that the man he loved did not love him, he loved Lily Evans, that redheaded mudblood, he, Severus was pureblood, so was James, they belonged together, why couldn't James see that? Why did have to fall in love with someone else, why Lily? 

Severus knew that he had made a mistake, he should have known that the arrangement he had with James was never intended to be permanent, so why had he fallen in love? Because he was a fool. Because James epitomised everything that was good, everything that was missing from his own life. James made him feel special, if only for those brief moments when they lay in each other's arms, James' skin felt so warm against his own. James' touch felt like a surge of electricity running through his body, a feeling that he had been unable to match since James' fingers had last touched his body.

At that moment his eyes met Harry's.

"James" he breathed and Harry's head jerked up sharply.

Severus was on the verge of taking Harry in his arms and crushing his lips against his, he was James' son; he looked so much like him. Everyday he had to live with the torment of his ex-lover's son looking at him with hatred in his green eyes – her eyes! It was then he realised what he was about to do and took a step backwards.

"You're just like your father, do you know that Potter? You both think you have the right to use people and then disregard them, as if they have no feelings. Well I am here to tell you that you can't. Mr Malfoy has been through enough recently without you causing him further anguish. You had better treat him decently or will have me to answer to and I will make you very very sorry." Snape's eyes glittered with menace, Harry felt anger welling up inside of him, what right did Snape have to talk to him like that?

"This has nothing to do with me and Draco does it? This is about you and my father. I am not my father and you can't punish me for what _he _did to you. Okay so he hurt you and it must be hard seeing me everyday, reminding you of him but I am not to blame!" Harry had said the words in a rush; afraid that if he did not speak quickly the words would never be said. He expected Snape to be furious at his impertinence, he remembered Snape's anger in the Shrieking Shack 3 years previously, when he had refused to listen to Harry and Lupin and Sirius. He had held a grudge for 20 years, Harry was sure that his words would make no difference.

To Harry's great surprise Snape had not said anything in reply to Harry's outburst. He had slumped into a chair; his head in his hands and Harry felt an almost overwhelming feeling of sympathy towards the potions master.He had loved and lost so long ago but he was still unable to love again, to forgive and to forget. He thought of Draco and realised that he couldn't be responsible for making history repeat itself, he couldn't turn Draco into someone like Snape, bitter and lonely. Ginny even looked something like his mother. She had red hair too. However, Draco and Snape did not look alike, he half wondered whether Draco's father and his father had ever met secretly too.

"Was Lucius Malfoy at school with you too?" Harry found himself asking. Snape raised his head and looked straight into Harry's eyes as if determined to remember that Harry was not James.

"Yes." He said tonelessly. "Why do you ask?"

"Did he know my dad too?" 

"Yes but he never fucked him, he left him to me, he always preferred Sirius Black for some reason, but he never got him either. Remus Lupin saw to that."

Harry was taken aback by the wealth of information he was receiving; he didn't say anything for a while trying to absorb what he had been told.

Snape was watching him, there was something like hunger in his eyes and Harry found he had to turn away.

"Draco may not be my son in blood Harry." Harry looked up at Snape's use of his first name. "But I love him as if he were, far more than his own father does, I have been his unofficial guardian from the moment he was born. I know why he was born, you see. Another innocent child born for Voldemort. The Dark Lord wanted his followers to have children; you see he wanted to ensure that he would have supporters for generations to come. Draco, Crabbe and Goyle they were all born for that purpose along with many others. They are schooled in the dark arts from a very young age. They are offered no alternatives. I had left the service of the Dark Lord and I wanted to protect those born to enter his service from the path that was chosen for them. I always knew that Draco would turn out to be brighter than Crabbe's son or Goyle's and so I knew that he was the one I needed to focus my attention on, others would follow his lead. When he came to Hogwarts I could see so much of myself at his age in him. He comes from a family where honour is prized above all else, so do I. He hides his true feelings under a veneer of superiority and arrogance, he is frightened, so was I." Snape paused for a few moments and looked at Harry with something akin to fear in his eyes as if expecting Harry to mock him but when Harry remained silent he continued.

"I knew that I had to look out for him, to try and steer him in the right direction, to try and make him feel genuinely important, his dislike of you and yours gave me another reason to take out my anger on you and everything was working out fine. Until that one day in potions when I saw him watching you, I recognised the look in his eyes, it was the one I wore everyday when I looked at your father and I knew then that history would repeat itself. I looked at you to see if you knew it too, I watched you staring at him as James used to look at me and I knew, I knew the meetings would start soon, I couldn't stop them I just had to watch my son in all but blood becoming more and more infatuated with my lovers son. If only you hadn't met him the night his mother died, hadn't shown him kindness, it's the worst thing you could do. He fell I saw it myself the morning after, when I visited him in the hospital wing and you were there. I had warned him what might happen but he didn't listen – he thought he hated you, he thought he could control this but he doesn't know the whole story, he doesn't realise that this is more powerful than either of you. You can't stop it happening." 

Snape seemed to have finished speaking he was just looking at Harry, his eyes full of a terrible sadness.

"Please don't let Draco become like me. I can never love again, I loved too deeply, too young and I am bitter and lonely as a result. Draco has so little happiness in his life, born into evil, surrounded by coldness and hate it is a wonder he knows how to love." 

Harry's eyes met Snape's and he smiled at the man who had loved his father, who still loved his father even though he had been dead for 16 years.

"I love Draco, Professor Snape. I won't hurt him, Ginny is very special to me and I find her attractive but whenever I am with her Draco is never out of my mind, no matter how happy she makes me, he makes me happier." 

"Then you are different from your father after all." Snape said quietly.

"Maybe not so different." Harry replied and before he had time to reconsider his decision he had crossed to where Snape was sitting and lifted his teacher's face to his. Snape opened his mouth to say something but Harry shook his head before lowering his mouth over Snape's for the briefest of kisses, just a fleeting touch of lips. When Harry lifted his head, he looked once more into Snape's black eyes, which were filled with a warmth that Harry had never seen there before. Harry's own eyes – his mother's eyes – shined with unshed tears and he began to leave the room hurriedly. He reached the door and was about to turn the handle when Snape spoke his name very softly and he turned.

"Thank you." Severus smiled and Harry smiled back before leaving the room.

As Harry closed the door, he heard Snape say something so quietly he could barely hear it.

"James." 

  
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A/N: Any guesses as to why Harry kissed Snape? An imaginary bar of Honeydukes chocolate to anyone who gets it right. 

IN THE NEXT CHAPTER: Will Harry tell Draco how he feels? How will Ron, Hermione and Ginny react?

Plus, what did Snape mean when he said that Harry and Draco's relationship is more powerful than either of them?

If anyone has any comments or suggestions about any of my stories or any stories they would like to see me write please feel free to email me at: 

[scamp110@hotmail.com][1]

I will do my very best to reply to all messages.

   [1]: mailto:scamp110@hotmail.com



	9. Chapter 9

Harry wandered along the corridors, heading in the general direction of the Great Hall but not really paying attention to wher

A/N Once again my sincere thanks for all the your lovely reviews, you guys are the best. I am so thrilled that people are enjoying my work and I hope you will all continue to do so.

Thanks to : Escagirl, Pepperjack Candy, Shadwo Maxwell-Yuy, supergirl, Evenstar, Dewi, Yeah81, Lana Mariah, Eternal Haven, one person no name, Lone Wolve, Elsebeth Fishnips (great profile – I love Blackadder), Phoenixx and Neo.

Also thanks to all those people who came up with suggestions as to why Harry kissed Snape – the reason behind it will be revealed in due course.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Chapter ten is nearly finished and if you are all nice and review I may post it at the end of the week.

On with the story.

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Harry wandered along the corridors, heading in the general direction of the Great Hall but not really paying attention to where his footsteps took him. He was thinking about the conversation he had just had with Snape.All this time he had thought that Snape was a cold, unfeeling, uncaring man who liked to be make himself feel important by bullying others. One conversation had changed all that; Harry now knew that he had been wrong in his impression of Snape. True Snape was a bitter and miserable man, but he genuinely cared for Draco and he'd had the courage the leave Voldemort at the height of his power and become a spy for Dumbledore. 

He rounded a corner and what he saw made the blood run cold in his veins. In front of him was a large group of Slytherin's that included Crabbe and Goyle. They were laughing and jeering and all of a sudden, Harry saw Goyle kick out at something on the ground in front of him, the figure on the ground shielded its head with its hands as the blows rained down on him from all sides. To his horror, Harry realised that the figure was Draco and without stopping to think he rushed forward and tried to pull Draco away from his attackers. As soon as his fingers closed on Draco's slim wrist a strange light encircled him and Draco, it glowed eerily and it seemed to be driving the attackers away. Crabbe had stepped forward in an attempt to penetrate the field of light but was thrown backwards as he touched it. When they saw what happened to Crabbe the other Slytherin's did not seem keen to try for themselves and they simply stood and stared at Harry and Draco within the force field that had appeared around them. Harry had pulled Draco to his feet but when he made to leave the circle of light, he too was forced backwards, his hand still clasping Draco's. 

A Slytherin boy whose face Harry recognised but whose name escaped him, pulled his wand out of his pocket and raised it before muttering the words of the first curse that sprang to mind. The spell hit the wall of light and rebounded back and hit its originator. The light was truly impenetrable and the hapless Slytherin was now suffering the effects of the jelly legs curse that he had attempted to cast on Harry and Draco, he wobbled around for a few moments before collapsing to the ground – his legs shaking madly, unable to support his weight.

Inside the shield of light, Harry tried to force his brain to make some sense of what was happening – he had reached over to Draco to pull him away from his attackers and now they were surrounded by a strange light that wouldn't let them escape. Beyond the safety of the circle of light Harry could hear the surprised and frightened exclamations of the Slytherin's as well as the sound of footsteps approaching.

Harry could hear the surprised and frightened exclamations of the Slytherin's as well as the sound of footsteps approaching.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny rounded the corner and stopped stock still when they saw Harry and Draco immersed in the circle of light, surrounded by bemused Slytherin's. Ron rushed forward but the shield of light forced him backwards. Hermione, however did not seem too surprise by this turn of events, she merely stood and watched, a slightly superior grin playing on her lips. 

Ginny looked at Harry and Draco's hands clasped together and her expression changed from one of surprise and shock to one of sad recognition. She was looking at the expression on Harry's face as he held Draco's hand. His eyes were fixed upon Draco, you could see the love radiating from them both, maybe that was what the light was. The look on Harry's eyes as they focussed on Draco was so full of love and adoration that Ginny could almost feel her heart breaking as she stood there. She knew that Harry was no longer aware of the others surrounding him and Draco for both of them it was as if they were the only people in the world. Harry raised his head and tilted Draco's face up to his before placing a kiss on Draco's lips. 

The Slytherin's began to disperse, muttering their displeasure and threatening horrible reprisals on both Harry and Draco. 

Ron was standing, open-mouthed at Harry and Draco's display, he did not look angry, just very shocked. Hermione was still watching them with the same look of self-satisfaction on her face and Ginny? – Ginny had fled the scene, her eyes filling with tears, she was not angry with Harry, she supposed that she had known all along that Harry would choose Draco – she had seen them together, she had known what Harry felt even before Harry did – you don't love someone for as long as Ginny had loved Harry without at least some understanding of their emotions and expressions and the one that had worn around Draco lately had looked to Ginny to be very much like love, even if Harry hadn't known it himself.

In her haste to be away from the scene, Ginny almost collided with Albus Dumbledore, who took in her red eyes and tear stained cheeks before saying. 

"So Miss Weasley, I gather you have just seen the effects of the _perilous impervious_ _amorous _spell. Please do not upset yourself; this is no bad reflection on you. The decision of Mr Potter was beyond his control and I happen to know that he thinks very highly of you nonetheless." Ginny blushed deeply but felt mildly comforted by the headmaster's words.

"I want you to know that once the news about Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy is widely known throughout the school you will find yourself becoming extremely sought after. There are many boys in the school who would like to replace Mr Potter as the object of your affections and whilst that does not make up for the hurt you presently feel, in time you will come to see the advantages of your position." Dumbledore smiled at Ginny kindly and she smiled back.

"Now I must go and see Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy, they have to understand what has taken place here this afternoon, I expect they will feel extremely confused."

With that he patted Ginny's arm and strode off towards the place where Ginny had left Harry, Draco, Ron and Hermione.

Upon his arrival, Dumbledore could see that the light was beginning to fade, its presence no longer required. Ron was still standing; speechless looking at his best friend kissing Draco Malfoy and Hermione was still looking rather pleased with herself as she surveyed the scene.

"Mr Potter, Mr Malfoy I would like to speak to you both in my office, if I may." Harry was surprised to hear the headmaster's voice and he let go of Draco's hand, the last remaining vestiges of light disappearing as he did so. 

As his contact with Harry was broken Draco fell to the floor, Harry made to help him up but Dumbledore stopped him. 

"Leave him be Harry, he is all right. The experience has merely drained him of energy, plus he suffered a fair few blows before you arrived on the scene. Mr Weasley, Miss Granger will you take Mr Malfoy up to the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey should be able to tend to his injuries." Ron and Hermione nodded, Ron still looking shell-shocked.

"Mr Potter, if you would like to go and have something to eat and then make your way to my office in about half an hour, I shall inform Professor Trelawney of the reason for your absence from Divination." Dumbledore smiled gently and Harry nodded dumbly before heading automatically for the Great Hall.

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So what do you think? 

What was that strange light surrounding Harry and Draco? How did Dumbledore know what had happened? Will Ginny ever get over Harry?

All will be revealed in Chapter 10.

As always all feedback is appreciated.


	10. Chapter 9

Later that afternoon, Harry stood by the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office, he was reluctant to 

This is the real Chapter 10 – I'm sorry about accidentally posting Chapter 9 twice but it was when ff.net was down and I didn't think either post had worked. 

I hope that you are all enjoying the story and as always please review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and your lovely comments help in motivating me to write faster.

Thanks to all those who have taken the time to review so far. 

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Later that afternoon, Harry stood by the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office, he was reluctant to mutter the password he had been given, he was reluctant to mount the stone escalator and enter the beautiful, circular room but he knew he had to, he had faced worse fates surely. His found himself thinking back almost three years to that terrible night in the graveyard, the night that had spawned so many nightmares. He thought of his last encounter with Voldemort and shuddered when he thought once again how narrow his escape had been.

Then without warning, the gargoyle sprang apart and Harry found his legs were carrying him forward, up the stone escalator and then all too soon he was outside Dumbledore's door, his fist raised about to knock. The door opened and Dumbledore beckoned him inside.

Harry entered the office, stomach churning with horrible anticipation. He had been dreading visiting Dumbledore since Dumbledore had requested that he come and see him following the events of the last hour. He wasn't sure why he was so concerned about what Dumbledore might say, maybe it was because he both liked and respected Dumbledore and he wanted Dumbledore to approve of his decision to be with Draco and he feared that Dumbledore would not approve.

Dumbledore indicated that Harry should sit and then steepled his fingers, staring at Harry over the top of them, his penetrating light blue gaze making Harry feel that Dumbledore could see right into his soul.

"So, Harry I expect you are wondering about that circle of light that formed around you and Mr Malfoy earlier today, when you were under attack by some of the members of Slytherin house. Mr Malfoy is fine by the way and you will of course be permitted to visit him once we have finished our business here."

Harry nodded but did not speak; Dumbledore subjected him to yet another searching look before continuing.

"I was not surprised when I heard what had happened when yourself and Mr Malfoy were attacked. In fact I had been expecting something of this nature to occur for some time."

Harry's surprise must have shown on his face because Dumbledore smiled and patted his arm before continuing.

"Your relationship with Draco Malfoy has invoked a special kind of protection spell, it does not need to be performed as such, it simply appears in certain circumstances. It is very old magic Harry; it has to do with the thin line between love and hate. You and Mr Malfoy believed that you hated each other and indeed you did but that did not stop you becoming attracted to each other, Harry felt himself blushing but Dumbledore seemed not to notice and continued unabated. 

When your attraction became love the spell was invoked and when you declared your mutual love in the face of attack and opposition, the spell was activated as a shield to defend you. This protection is somewhat similar to the spell that your mother activated the night she died." At that point Dumbledore paused to give Harry the opportunity to grasp the information and to collect himself.

Harry felt his eyes growing a little moist but again did not say anything and after a few moments silence, Dumbledore continued.

"The magic that took place this afternoon ensured that neither yourself nor Mr Malfoy could be harmed by the attackers. However, the protection will only occur when you are together, and in physical contact with each other. This is why the remnants of the spell disappeared when your contact was broken. You were unable to leave the safety of the spell's shield until the danger had passed. 

However, as I have already stated the protection will only be present when you are together, so if your foes try to attack you separately you will be just as vulnerable as before, with the added factor that damage to one of you may have an adverse effect on the other. Indeed if one of you is killed the other may well die as a result. The bond between you is now so strong that any attempts to break it could have tragic and devastating consequences. I understand that this news is rather overwhelming and I will endeavour to discover whether there are any spells that can be performed to lessen the hold of the magic you have invoked. However, I must warn you that I am not confident of finding any such spells and therefore you must be prepared to accept the reality of the situation and indeed the commitment you and Mr Malfoy will have to make to each other, in order to protect your life and his."

Harry opened his mouth to ask the headmaster something but he found himself unable to speak. The enormity of what had just occurred was only now beginning to sink in and he realised the full impact of Dumbledore's words. He had to be sure that he really wanted to be with Draco because any slip up on his part could put his and Draco's lives in danger. At the age of 17 he had to be ready to commit to Draco for the rest of his life. It seemed as though the right to choose his own path had been taken away from him the moment that he had taken Draco's hand to pull him away from his attackers, when the force shield had been activated.Not that he really minded being bonded with Draco, he knew that Draco was the one he truly loved, he had decided that before the protection had been activated, in fact his decision had probably triggered the force field into operation but he was still frightened of the consequences of his actions. He knew that 17 year olds were not usually the most devoted partners, what if he and Draco fell out of love, it could happen surely. Not so long ago they had hated each other, Draco had been set to join Voldemort when he left school but now? Now everything was very different. 

"You have a lot to take in Harry. I suggest that you return to Gryffindor tower before you go and visit Draco, to give yourself time to mull the situation over and try and come to terms with what has happened. In the meantime I will go and visit Draco and explain what happened to him, Madam Pomfrey will have healed his wounds now."

Harry nodded his assent and rose from his chair, still unable to speak, his mind was reeling and he felt oddly separated from reality, like he was watching the days events on a video rather than actively participating in them.Suddenly a thought struck him.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Dumbledore looked up from his desk where he had been sorting through a sheaf of papers.

"Yes Harry?" Dumbledore's blue eyes were alert and sharp as he looked over at Harry.

"Well I was wondering, erm how _did _you know that Draco was being attacked and that Draco and I managed to activate that spell?" Dumbledore did not reply immediately, instead he looked at Harry appraisingly for a few moments; he seemed to be considering his response.

"Well" he said finally, his expression suddenly sombre."Given the events that have occurred in the school over the last few years, I thought it prudent to initiate some security measures. So after careful deliberation I created a device to install in my office that alerts me as to any significant events happening in the school. Especially anything out of the ordinary or any activity that compromises the safety of the students. So I was aware of your liaison with Draco Malfoy some time ago, ironically enough as a result of your attempts to conceal the true nature of your relationship." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled mischievously and Harryhimself blush. "If the relationship had been conducted openly, my attention to would not have been drawn to it. However, I understand the need for secrecy, given Lucius Malfoy's close ties to Lord Voldemort." Seeing Harry's expression, Dumbledore gave him a small smile before continuing. "Yes I am perfectly aware that Lucius Malfoy is a death eater, however, I am not able to prove it and can therefore do very little to see him brought to justice. I do share your concerns with regard to the effect that your relationship will have on Lucius and will seek to ensure that Draco will not be in any danger from his father." Harry's relief must have shown on his face because Dumbledore smiled warmly at him. 

"I would like to assure you that I do not use the device to spy on you and your contemporaries, if I happen to witness any scenes that are clearly _not _for my eyes then I do not continue to look. It is simply necessary for me to be aware of situations that might require my presence or knowledge, like for example the events of this afternoon.

Harry nodded again; he was beginning to feel like a bit of an idiot, just nodding his head dumbly in response to nearly everything that Dumbledore told him.

Finally Harry got up to leave the office, his head buzzing with the information he had received that day. First he had that conversation with Snape, then he had managed to invoke some old and powerful magic and in doing so revealed his relationship with Draco to several Slytherin's plus Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Finally he knew that very soon whole school would know about him and Draco and he would have to be prepared for some unpleasant reactions from people, possibly including his friends.

He and Draco did not have an easy path ahead of them, Draco's father was a close supporter of Voldemort and Harry's only living relations were as anti-magic as it was possible to be. Plus Harry couldn't help wondering what Ron and Hermione were going to say when he saw them later. After all they had witnessed the events of the afternoon and he couldn't avoid talking to them about it forever. They were going to be angry, they were going to ask him why he hadn't trusted them enough to tell them about him and Draco. Harry swallowed hard suddenly realising that Ron might want to punch him for hurting his little sister.

He pondered for a moment about Sirius' reaction when he told him, he thought perhaps that Sirius would be supportive of his choice of partner even if no one else was – after all Sirius' relationship wasn't exactly conventional – his lover was a werewolf. He was used to the unpleasant reactions of others when they had discovered his relationship with Remus Lupin.In fact the more he thought about it the more he realised that Sirius might be just the person he needed to speak to at the moment – Sirius always helped him get his head straight when something was bothering him. Feeling somewhat better after deciding to write to Sirius, Harry made his way to the Owlery to find Hedwig.


	11. Chapter 11

Two days later:

Harry lay in his four-poster staring up at the canopy above and wishing that he could go back and change what had happened over the last couple of days.

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After sending his letter to Sirius, explaining all about his relationship with Draco and what had happened when he taken Draco's hand to pull him away from the Slytherin's and what Dumbledore had told him in his office, he had felt considerably better – that was until he had gone to visit Draco in the hospital wing.

When Harry had arrived he had been surprised to discover that Draco was not alone. As he approached Draco's bed he saw a figure standing next to the bed, leaning over and talking quietly to Draco. Obviously hearing Harry's footsteps, the figure raised his head and turned to face Harry. Harry gasped when he saw who it was. – Lucius Malfoy was standing next to his son, his hand on Draco's shoulder, a cold glint in his eyes.

"How very nice to see you Harry." He said coldly, moving slowly towards Harry in an almost predatory fashion. Harry found himself backing away as Lucius approached; there was something about the look in Lucius' eyes that unnerved him.

"Is there a problem Harry? I thought you had come here to see my son but now you seem to have changed your mind." Lucius tone was mocking, his eyes flashed with cruel amusement. Harry tried to look at Draco but Lucius was blocking his view. 

"I just thought that maybe I should come back later, you are obviously busy." Harry said quickly, he caught Draco's expression; it looked pained as if the last thing he wanted was to be left alone with his father. Harry steeled himself to remain.

"Actually Harry your appearance is most convenient." Lucius smiled but the smile did not reach his eyes. "You see I am here because one of Draco's housemates felt it appropriate to shall we say – bring me up to speed regarding your relationship with my son. Also I must admit I am intrigued by the story I was told regarding some sort of shield forming around the two of you. Now why would something like that happen?" He looked at Harry; eyebrows raised questioningly, a small smile forming on his lips.

Harry looked Lucius directly in the eyes. "I don't know why it happened." He lied, with not a trace of discomfort. 

"Oh come now Harry, you can do better than that. You do know what happened. That Muggle-loving fool, Albus Dumbledore is bound to have told you and as Draco's father I have the right to know." 

"Why don't you ask Dumbledore then?" Harry said defiantly, he saw Draco grin at him over his father's shoulder.

"Because I'm asking you _boy_. Now answer me!" Lucius' raised his voice and Harry could see pink patches forming on his cheeks just as they did on Draco's when he got angry.

At that moment, the door to Draco's room opened and Madam Pomfrey bustled in carrying a tray with some soup and sandwiches on it.

"What is all this noise about? Can't you see this is a hospital wing?" She glared angrily at the three of them as she set the tray down on Draco's bedside table.

"If you can't behave in a manner appropriate to this environment, I suggest you leave Mr Malfoy. You can return when you feel able to conduct yourself with more decorum."

Lucius looked livid but didn't say anything; instead he picked up his travelling cloak and stalked towards the door. When he reached it he stopped and turned to face Draco and Harry.

"This discussion is not over. I will be back very soon, you mark my words." With that he turned on his heel and left the room.

Madam Pomfrey winked at Draco before leaving the room herself.

When she had gone, Draco reached over and grabbed Harry's hand. 

"Dumbledore came to see me, he told me about what the force field was, pretty amazing hey?" Draco's eyes were shining; he seemed to be very happy considering that his father had just left.

"Did your father ask you about it too?" Harry asked, kissing Draco's fingertips.

"Yes but I wouldn't tell him anything, that is why he was so keen for you to tell him. Sorry about that." 

"That's all right, I'm sorry I almost left you alone with him. I was just a little taken aback that's all." Harry bent down and kissed Draco softly, he felt Draco's lips part underneath his and could not resist sliding his tongue into Draco's warm mouth. Draco groaned beneath him as their kiss deepened, pulling Harry closer to him until Harry was practically lying on top of him. With a sigh, Harry pulled away, Draco looked faintly annoyed.

"I'm sorry Drac. It's just that Madam Pomfrey could come in at any minute and I can't see her being too pleased about finding us… well you know." Harry trailed off blushing. Draco grinned ferally and pulled Harry back down on top of him. Harry tried to protest but not very hard because he was enjoying the feel of Draco's mouth on his not to mention what Draco's hands were doing to his body.

The door to Draco's room opened again and Harry and Draco jumped apart – faces glowing.

Lucius Malfoy strode into the room and smiled cruelly at the pair of them as he approached the bed.

"I have ensured that we will not be disturbed – that meddling Pomfrey woman has been dealt with. So you can tell me all about that spell the two of you managed to conjure earlier." Lucius' expression was menacing as he loomed over the bed.

"So which of you is going to tell me?" Lucius smiled evilly and pointed his wand at Harry. Instinct took over and Draco reached towards Harry and took his hand. As his hand made contact with Harry, the same shield of light formed around the two of them. Lucius expression changed from anger to delight. He smirked down at his son and Harry, before muttering a couple of words under his breath. His spell hit the field of light and rebounded back towards him, he ducked and the spell missed him. When he raised his head he was smiling.

"This is very interesting isn't it?" 

Inside the protection field Harry tightened his hold on Draco's hand and Draco smiled.

Lucius tried a few more spells and when they too rebounded back his smile widened.

"You see to have activated some kind of protection spell. This could be very useful."

Draco leant over and whispered in Harry's ear. "What do you think he means?" Harry shrugged.

"He seems surprisingly pleased doesn't he?" He whispered back. The two boys watched as Lucius replaced his wand and got to his feet.

"Well now that I know what this spell is, I'll be going but I wouldn't get too comfortable, this little dalliance won't last much longer. I suggest you enjoy it while you can." Lucius' tone was threatening, his expression steely. He turned on his heel and left the room without so much as a backward glance.

Harry turned to Draco. "I'd better get going too, will you be all right?" Draco nodded and Harry got to his feet.

"I have to talk to Ron and Hermione sooner or later." Harry's expression was pensive. "Did they say anything to you when they brought you up here?" 

"No, Ron looked like he was in shock and Hermione looked pretty smug actually, like she had been the one to cast the spell or something. They didn't stay very long, I don't think any of us really knew what to say." 

"Oh well I'd better go and face the music. Ron will have probably got over his shock by now and will be ready to practice all his worst hexes on me. But then again maybe it won't be that bad, maybe he'll just use his fists instead." 

"Don't worry Harry, they're your friends they'll listen to you, it will be okay." Draco smiled reassuringly and Harry nodded.

"You're probably right. Still I can't help worrying that Ron will want to kill me for upsetting his little sister, they're a really close family you know and she is the only girl, they're all really protective of her." To Harry's surprise Draco was grinning.

"I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a Weasley fist remember, but I'm sure it won't come to that, anyway I've also been on the receiving end of your fist and you punch harder." Harry grinned and bent down to kiss Draco, who returned the kiss enthusiastically.

"I wish I could be." He said, "I'll come and see you again tomorrow. Sleep well love." Harry picked up his wand, which was lying on Draco's bedside cabinet and left the room.

Harry made his way back to Gryffindor Tower with not a little trepidation. He reached the portrait hole, gave the Fat Lady the password and climbed through. 

As soon as he was inside, a group of people rushed towards him all questioning him excitedly.

"What happened earlier Harry?" "Is Malfoy really your boyfriend?" "What's going on?" 

Harry made his way through the throng of people, heading towards the boys' dormitory, hoping he would find Ron there.


End file.
